“Look, I’m making coffee, let’s just say that. I’m making coffee and this’ll all kick in when I’m caffeinated. Once that gets going, holy shit this interview is going to go off.”
The groggy laugh of comedy legend David O’Doherty echoes down the line as the Irish comic fixes himself a healthy cup of joe. Currently on tour throughout the UK, the musical stand-up has found time to briefly return home to Dublin for a special birthday.
“My dad is a jazz musician and he’s 80 today and he’s doing a gig – he’s doing a lunchtime concert because you can do whatever the fuck you want when you’re 80.”
It’s not the only celebration in store for O’Doherty this year, as 2019 marks two decades of performing... almost.
“Technically I did my first gig in 1998, but I was only doing bits and pieces. I was temping, essentially. But yeah my first proper shows were around 20 years ago, so I’ll take that congratulations, and I look forward to whatever present The Music has in store for me when I come down.”
The coming down in question concerns O’Doherty’s return to Aus this year with his new show, ULTRASOUND. But with his trademark Casio keyboard on hand, O’Doherty has taken a more professional approach to the compositional side of things.
“I toured a lot with [Flight of the] Conchords over the last year, and because they’re such good musicians, when you’re around them you can’t help but concentrate on the music a bit more. You know, I’ve always just sort of lyrically thought of an idea and hammered it that way, but I’ve been thinking a little more about song structure and making things a little bit neater. So I definitely have songs this time around that are better crafted than stuff over the last few years.”
As well as returning with a new hour of silly stand-up songs, O’Doherty is planning on launching a new business venture when he arrives to our shores.
“I’m breaking new and fresh ground,” he teases. “This is going to be a publishing industry first... I’m going to release a new album soon, hopefully before I come back to Australia and providing I can get my shit together, I’m releasing it on snap bracelets. You know snap bracelets? Those reflect-y bands that go around your wrists? Anyway, it’ll have a download code on the back of it and the title of the album on the front.
“No one really wants a USB drive, you just want the download code, but no one just wants a piece of paper with the code on it, either. But find me a person that doesn’t want a snap bracelet and I will find you someone with no pulse.”
Hearing some scepticism on the other end of the line, O’Doherty doubles down.
“This is a serious piece of kit, man. You can put them around your bicep if you’re going for a cycle, you can use them to hold up one leg of your trousers if you don’t want to get them caught in the chain. There are numerous uses to it, and I believe the Venn diagram of ‘people who like my comedy’ perfectly overlaps with ‘people who really want a snap bracelet.’”
Between writing new shows and inventing new delivery mechanisms for his work, O’Doherty has also campaigned heavily for various causes back home. As a result, he’s garnered some extra attention, and says he looks forward to returning to Aus where he can just be a goofball for a while.
“I think I would be known as a slightly more political entity here, in the sense that I did a fair bit of work for the abortion referendum in Ireland last year and the marriage referendum before that. I’m perceived as one of those snowflake, lefty, ‘gone too far the other way’ comedians that get berated on late night radio shows that taxi drivers listen to. So in a way it’s nice to come back where people know me just as a guy who sings silly songs about the internet.”
