It was a dream gig — one which John Meagher had been eagerly anticipating ever since Patrick Kielty requested him to be his help act on the Borderline tour — however that opening evening in Enniskillen earlier this 12 months makes him wince when he thinks of it now.
“It’s palms down the worst gig I’ve ever accomplished,” the Newry, Co Down comedian says ruefully. “I used to be terrified that I used to be going to get sacked that evening. Nothing appeared to go proper for me.”
Even now, Meagher finds it exhausting to unpick what went flawed. “Nerves, completely, and I used to be additionally looking for my toes within the materials that I’d be doing for Patrick’s viewers. And that was very completely different to membership audiences in England that I’d been used to. It’s not that the fabric was ‘blue’…”
Few comedians wish to relive the intricacies of a horrible gig, however Meagher is keen to go there. “Look, it’s the job of the help act to take bullets, however so long as you get them laughing by the top, then you definately’ve accomplished your job. That evening, there have been possibly 400 folks there and I heard three of them chortle as soon as every, and I used to be left with my ideas for the remainder of it.”
The sound of no palms clapping is one most performers have skilled not less than as soon as and, fortunately for Meagher, the remainder of the tour went far, much better. “Night time and day,” he says. “I grew into it, I suppose and the nerves, largely, went.” The tour concluded in a venerable venue that’s normally off the comedy circuit: Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. By then, Meagher had no bother making them chortle.
Having taken up stand-up shortly after he emigrated to London, the 38-year-old has been steadily constructing his identify as a grasp of sensible, observational comedy. The invitation from Kielty helped transfer him to a brand new stage and he spent a big chunk of 2022 on the street within the UK and Eire.
Opening every evening for such a longtime identify meant a terrific deal. “It’s been unimaginable,” he says. “It’s a bit like going to comedy college. Patrick, for me rising up, was the man that we’d sit round watching on TV. He was the man who gave the impression of me as nicely. Only for him to ask me to do it was already mind-blowing.”
Once I interviewed Kielty earlier than the tour hit Eire, he was drastically enthused about Meagher’s model of comedy. “John is a really sharp comic. He’s obtained a subtlety to his stuff which I didn’t have.” His cheerleading of the newcomer — in addition to the truth that John Meagher is my namesake — piqued my curiosity.
His model of humour is light, however razor-sharp, and largely mined from his personal life and occasions. In some respects, it’s a way more tough type of stand-up to get proper. There’s loads of materials in his personal life. Though born in Mayo and having spent his early childhood years in Clew Bay, ‘home-home’ is Newry and there isn’t a hint of Connacht in his smooth Northern Irish brogue. The household moved to Co Down so two of Meagher’s brothers, who're blind, may go to the acclaimed Jordanstown College exterior Belfast.
He had a tricky time of it in his personal college; he was a goal for bullies. “I like Newry nevertheless it’s a really exhausting city — particularly rising up within the late Eighties, early ’90s. And right here was I with a distinct accent.”
As a approach to escape his tormentors, he took up martial arts at 10. Life obtained significantly higher and the bullying stopped. “You stroll completely different. It’s an perspective factor. Individuals are quite a bit much less more likely to bounce at you if you’re strolling together with your shoulders again and your head held excessive.”
It was one thing he excelled at and, at one stage, he was ok to compete for Eire and even obtained to battle on the World Karate Championships. However being on the nationwide crew may very well be a bruising expertise, too. “I keep in mind hitting an opponent as exhausting as I may probably hit them and so they simply didn’t flinch. And I knew the subsequent one was coming for me!”
Harm, at 19, finally ended his combat-sports days and, by his personal admission, he floundered. “That path was instantly reduce off. What was I going to do? I used to be working odd jobs. I attempted college and lasted two days there. It simply wasn’t for me.”
Virtually to his personal shock, he wound up doing stand-up at an open-mic evening.
“I’ve been closely influenced by Billy Connolly and Tommy Tiernan. I like to inform tales about issues which are taking place in my life and about rising up and what’s taking place. Viewers members by no means have to fret that I’m going to get caught in and name them a paedo, or one thing. There’s different folks doing that, however that’s not what I’m about.”
He has given appreciable thought to the ability of laughter. “I’ve all the time thought it was superb that it doesn't matter what’s happening in your life, folks could make you chortle. You possibly can go on YouTube proper now and watch Billy Connolly and he’d make you chortle. And, as high-minded as this sounds, I like the concept that any person may very well be having a extremely horrible day and you could possibly inform them a narrative and so they’ll chortle on the finish of it. It’s simply the most effective job on the earth. And I’m paid for it! It’s mad that it’s a job.”
London is residence. When he’s not on the circuit, he’s working as an operations supervisor within the hospitality enterprise. He needed to take three months off to be able to go on tour this 12 months.
“My boss mentioned, ‘So long as you get the work accomplished, I don’t care the place you do it from.’ That’s an enormous privilege that I've, that not plenty of different folks have and that’s why I can afford to do gigs that don’t actually pay a lot cash.”
England is more likely to be residence for the foreseeable future. It’s the place he met his fianceé Jenna Al-Ansari, a Bahraini-British author and comic. Once we converse, Al-Ansari has had some excellent news — a household-name actor seems to be set to signal on to the TV undertaking she’s written, however Meagher asks for the star’s identify to not be talked about in case of a jinx. There’s additionally been a film deal. “She began writing scripts in lockdown and, in a short time, she obtained fairly profitable. She received an enormous prize with Olivia Coleman and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.”
They’re getting married in Bahrain in December. “We’re going to Bahrain for it.”
He talks about Al-Ansari in a lot of his routines. “She loves it,” he quips. “Folks say, ‘Does she not get aggravated in regards to the stuff you say?’ She’s truly aggravated that there’s no more. She’s very humorous as nicely.”
Regardless of dwelling with a fellow comic, Meagher doesn't use her as a sounding board for brand spanking new materials. “I can’t actually try this — and I’m unsure the way it works. I simply need to comply with the concept and if I feel it’s humorous, usually, I’ll need to determine it out myself and let the viewers inform me whether or not they agree or not. We’re each flat out — there’s plenty of work, in addition to our common work — however we push one another on.”
John, who additionally not too long ago received Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards Panel Prize 2022 Finest In Class, doesn’t count on to spend the remainder of his life in London, a lot as he enjoys town.
“Shopping for a home right here is principally not possible — except you win the EuroMillions. Jenna and I had been transferring to Belfast, as a result of we’re interested by having children, and I simply don’t assume London is a good spot to deliver up a child in the mean time. We’ve in all probability obtained two years to determine stuff out right here. However there’s plenty of good profession stuff happening for each us proper now, so possibly it’s a case of wait and see.”