It is said that Finglas born Brendan O’Carroll’s real turning point in his career was in February 1993, when his thirty five minute interview with Gay Byrne on the Late Late Show propelled Brendan straight to the top of the stardom ladder. Since then, Brendan has knocked U2 out of the top chart slot with his debut video Live at the Tivoli, made over a thousand stand-up appearances across Ireland and the U.K and penned five novels, two screenplays and seven plays. He even managed to become a member of Mensa on his travels with an IQ in the top 98% of Ireland - Is there anything he can't do?
Last night the funnyman reminded us why he is one of Ireland’s most loved and adored comedians as he traded in gobby Mrs. Brown to become American tourist Bill Kavanagh. Although his prosthetic make-up looked a bit dodgy, Brendan’s pranks and rude behaviour were highly credible – in fact I still have a stitch in my side from laughing so hard!
Brendan O' Carroll's claim to fame was in February 1993 on the Late Late Show with Gay Byrne.
Initially, Brendan (and his bout of tourettes) started out looking for directions asking the good people of Dublin where the Gresham hotel was. However, it was when he acted as a waiter and fooled his daughter, and then again to his manager that really took the biscuit for the best comedic moment during the hilarious episode.
As Brendan threw some free apple pie at his daughter and then murmured “that’s actually gone off” under his breath, I thought that she was going to fling it back at him. However, when he grabbed her barely sipped cappuccino from the table and poured it into his cleaning bucket, I was preparing myself for a full on brawl. Somehow Brendan’s daughter mustered up the courage to remain calm and refrained from raising her voice to the so-called ignorant waiter. Following a few more insulting comments about her being pregnant and her “hormones running wild,” the true identity of teh waiter was eventually revealed - and as expected there were several mortified faces left looming around the busy restaurant.
When Brendan decided to pull a similar prank on his manager, the joke just seemed to get better and funnier. It didn’t take long to fluster his manger who couldn’t seem to explain to the waiter that he wanted a turkey and rasher sandwich. I thought it was a smashing idea when Brendan dialled his manager to throw him off the scent that it was him. I found myself breaking into convulsions of laughter – it was all just so cringey! Mr. O’Carroll was lucky that he unveiled his true identity when he did, because it looked like his manager was about to cause a scene by walking behind the bar himself to get his sparkling water (yikes).
Brendan swapped his usual character of Mrs. Brown to become American tourist Bill Kavanagh.
In part two things moved up a gear as Brendan set up Larry Gogan, Mary Kennedy and Eurovision expert Paul G. Sheridan, in what was supposed to be a chat about the Eurovision throughout the years. Poor Mary Kennedy didn’t know where to look when Bill Kavanagh the American tourist walked in and coughed in her face. The laughter continued to flow (just like Mary's water that Bill stole), when Bill's so-called American partner asked Mary was she flirting with him. Oh the cruelty of it all! Poor Mary did not know how to react, but overall she came across as being a jolly good sport.
On the other hand, Paul G. Sheridan came across as a bit of a grump when he refused to put up with Bill's antics stating that he only had ten minutes to film and was on a strict schedule - but in fairness do we really blame him?
Jimmy Magee also failed to be impressed by Brendan’s antics when he shouted abruptly in his ear during a staged World Cup interview. This time Brendan put on the façade of a noisy soundman interrupting the interview every so often to answer his phone, or to have a random giggle to himself. The highlight had to be when Brendan almost took Jimmy's eye out with the microphone, and then continued to intrusively fix Jimmy’s microphone that was tucked behind his shirt!
All in all, it was possibly one of the funniest and worthwhile episodes of Anonymous to be aired.
Brendan O’ Carroll I salute you!
Laura Delaney
