Tommy Tiernan: "My central nervous system is addicted to hassle"

TV presenter and comedian Tommy Tiernan talks to Janice Butler about the guests who've left a mark on him, what brings him joy at home and dealing with the successes and failures in life.

"I think failure is kind of important actually," says Tommy Tiernan as he talks to me from home in Co Galway, or what he describes as "the edge of the Connemara reservation." As an outside observer, it seems like Tommy hasn’t dealt with too much failure lately; with a sold-out stand-up tour, a hit chat show going into its ninth season, in-demand podcasts and a critically acclaimed performance in Derry Girls, what would he know of failure?

"I entered a poetry competition once under a different name about six or seven years ago. It was an international competition where they were going to publish the top 1,100 poems and I didn’t even make the list," he laughs.

"In a weird way, failure gives you freedom, because the success brings a kind of expectation and it brings examination. But if you fail at a few things, people tend to leave you alone. I think it’s a wise move to fail a bit; someone like Taylor Swift could do with releasing an awful album, a Sean Nós album, just to take the pressure off her," he concludes his reasoning, as only Tommy can.

Further testament to the comedian's current success was his most recent appearance on the Late Late Show, which resulted in his own website crashing due to the high volume of traffic to it. "That stuff goes way over my head," he remarks.

Surprisingly, after over 30 years in the business, he still gets nervous about going on chat shows. "Oh God ya, because you can get it wrong," he explains. "I decided with my recent appearance that I was just going to focus in on Paddy [Kielty] and ignore the audience for as long as I can. That felt a lot more grounding to me. I’ve often done chat shows and walked off and thought I don’t like the eejit that people turn me into, or the fool that I become in front of an audience. So, I tried to go on as myself with Paddy and I was definitely a lot happier walking off than I’ve often been."

He has high praise for his chat show rival and fellow comedian, Patrick Kielty, who he has known from the comedy circuit they shared early in their careers. "He’s a lovely lovely man and there’s great decency in him. I first came across Paddy in the 1990s when he was the king of stand-up in the North. He was a god, a head-to-toe electricity and a phenomenal act. So, once you know someone to be that way, it’s always a pleasure to discover their soft, soulful side. It’s been lovely to be on the show with Paddy."

On the show, Tommy didn’t give a straight answer when asked if he is considering a run for the Áras next year, when Michael D Higgins will be stepping down. Does he have anything to add to those rumours? "That wasn’t worthy of a response, that was titillation and Paddy filling the gaps," he laughs, still not giving a yes or no.

He has said in the past that stand-up often leaves him frustrated and demented, so how does working on his chat show make him feel, welcoming mystery guests without any preparation or knowledge of who will be joining him until they meet in studio?

"It’s changed. This is the first year that I actually let go and started looking forward to it. In previous years, I was concerned with all the interviews being really good. And I think what stressed me out was that I didn’t have control over it. But something clicked this year: I may not have control over who walks out or how the interview is going to go, so once I let go and accepted that, I found that I was looking forward to it."

Tommy is never one to mince his words and often divides the crowd with his comedy. Has he ever felt that hosting a prime-time TV show with the national broadcaster might restrict him? "I think if you rein yourself in, it's over, you’re done," he replies. "I think if I started to be careful or to worry too much about my questions or what I say, then the adventure is over. You could get a robot to do it at that stage.

"I think as a stand-up, you’re kind of an outlaw. You can be a very loveable stand-up, someone like Michael McIntyre, someone who's in the mainstream and very good at what he does. Those people receive great love. Then there’s other stand-ups who are outside of that box and are untrustworthy because when they get on television, you wouldn’t know what they’re going to say. I think I belong to the second camp," he adds.

Over the eight seasons of his show, viewers have been astonished by some of the interviews, creating many watercooler moments and meme-worthy clips: Arthur Gourounlian, Roy Keane, Gabriel Byrne and Deirdre O’Kane have all made for must-see TV. Who stands out for the host?

"They all do in a way," he answers. "One that comes to mind most quickly for me is Brenda Fricker. I was very taken by her defiance, her hurt and her craic. She was fearless in her being, she didn’t come out to play the chat show game, she was just talking to me and it was if she was saying 'This is who I am and it’s not important to me if you like it or not’. That one stayed with me, as well as Stephen Rae and Gabriel Byrne, but most of the interviews leave a mark if I’m being honest," he adds.

Last summer, Ardal O'Hanlon, Patrick Kielty and Tommy were among a group of comedians to have an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Ardal O’Hanlon has spoken about being uncertain of the invitation, but Tommy says he didn’t think twice.

"I couldn’t not go. Firstly, I thought it was a joke, but you’d have to go. I had no hesitation at all; it seemed like a great adventure. They weren’t asking me to join the priesthood or marry a nun," he laughs.

As well as the new season of the chat show, Tommy will continue his Tommedian world tour. He performed in the US in November, and heads to Europe and back to Ireland in 2025. Last year, he introduced a phone ban at his gigs, providing the audience with phone pouches to create phone-free space.

"It’s because people were coming to the shows and recording them and broadcasting out of context," he explains. "People love it and venues love it because believe it or not, we drink more when we don’t have our phones. We don’t know what to do with our hands without them," he laughs.

"People can distort the show and what it’s about and more people will see the clip than will ever see the show. So, this allows it to be like stand-up used to be, before phones: if people have an objection to what you say in a show, they can say it in the moment," he adds.

At home, away from his many spinning plates, life in Galway is spent with his wife Yvonne, a musician and member of The Raines, and their children (he has three children from a previous relationship with Jayme Street and three children with Yvonne). His eldest is 31 and the youngest is 12.

"And the bonus ball is five," he laughs. "I’ve a five-year-old granddaughter. If I ever see their ages as lotto numbers, I’ll kick myself." He says it’s busy, "a dangerous adventure at every turn," he laughs, but a house full of joy. "There’s nothing as pleasing as when your children are making each other laugh. That’s one of the most delightful things you can hear."

It’s apparent you’ll never find Tommy idle. "I don’t know if I do well under pressure, but I certainly volunteer for it."

"My central nervous system is addicted to hassle. I tend to flounder a bit when I’m not working so I’ll fill the day with something, even if it’s a useless endeavour. I’m not good at relaxing, but I’m an expert in collapsing," he laughs.

"If I come down to the shed to write a bit of poetry, I can pass the day doing that. And there’s absolutely no pressure on that whatsoever because no one wants to read it. But if I’m on my way to do a stand-up show, or the chat show or a TV show, that has different consequences. But my day will always be full with something."

And aren’t we all the better for it.