Funny Talk: Gerry McBride

Returning to the Hardy Har Comedy Club on May 16th, Gerry McBride may not understand how road travel works, but the man knows funny.

Otherwise, you know, he wouldn’t have that gig writing for that naughty site that inspires us so, Waterford Whispers.

Not that being part of Ireland’s finest satirical website is the only string to Gerry’s bow, his growing reputation over the last seven years seeing young McBride play the likes of the Vodafone Comedy Festival in July. If you can make it there, well, you’re doing pretty darn well with the oul’ jokes.

But where does the funny come from? We asked Gerry to tell us about the five comedians that helped shape and sharpen his wit…

Billy Connolly
When it came to comedy when I was small, you took what you could get: there was no internet, so you couldn’t spend all day watching comedy clips on YouTube or specials on Netflix. You had very limited access to comedians, and as such you only ever really got to watch the likes of Billy Connolly when he did an Audience With…, or showed up on The Late Late. Which given the talent that Billy exudes every second he’s on a stage, isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Jack Dee
As I got a bit older, I started staying up later and catching stand-up shows on Channel 4, where new comedians would get their break in a pre-BBC3 era. One of my favourites was Jack Dee, purely because of his caustic, dour delivery. He wasn’t telling jokes and having a great time; he looked like he was genuinely annoyed to be there. His deadpan style just cracked me up, and still does. My parents hated him, which may have upped his cool factor in my eyes.

Richard Pryor
Like I said earlier, YouTube revolutionised how people watch comedy these days. You don’t even have to watch a whole show, you can just view clips here and there, for five minutes, for an hour, maybe just 30 seconds. Back before you had YouTube, you had to rely on the one kid at school who had an Eddie Murphy tape, or a Richard Pryor tape, and wait your turn while it made it’s way around the classroom. When it came my turn to watch Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, I was blown away. People who like their comedy in 30 second chunks on the internet, stay away: this is nearly 2 hours of the finest stand-up ever created, and demands to be watched in one go.

Chris Rock
Not many can do it like Chris Rock – mixing serious social issues with flat out hilarious anecdotes. I had his first two shows on CD and I played them over and over again, laughing every time. Watching him on TV, I loved his movement, his swagger, his delivery. At any stage, you could have paused the show and the still image would look like a man in total control of where he was and what he was doing. A legend.

Frankie Boyle
Some comedians can be enjoyed by everyone, and some comedians split the audience right down the middle. Frankie Boyle is one of the masters of the “sharp-intake-of-breath-while-trying-not-to-giggle” one liners. You know you shouldn’t laugh. You know it’s terrible. But above all else, you know it’s the funniest hing you’ve heard in a long, long time.

This interview originally appeared on Aug 18th 2015. You can check out Gerry McBride’s Waterford Whispers work here, and find out more about the Hardy Har club right here.