PJ Gallagher’s debut stand-up DVD has a nonsensical title: Live! Take After Yourself And Be Smile. What the hell does it mean?
“You’re the first person to ask me about that,” says Gallagher, with tongue firmly placed in cheek. “It is an unusual name. I use MySpace – probably way too much, in fairness. You know the way on MySpace you get a load of freaky guys chatting girls up all the time and they leave those silly comments like, ‘You’re so hot’. One girl that I know got a comment: ‘Hope to meet you one day. Look after yourself and be smile!’ I didn’t know what it means but I loved it so much that I nicked it. But the best thing was, when she asked him what it means he hadn’t a clue either.”
The new DVD was recorded live in Vicar Street, which is the venue, Gallagher points out, that all stand-up comedians seem to be using these days for recording their shows. This was another reason for the unusual title. “It was just a case of calling it anything but ‘Live At Vicar Street’, which is what ever other live stand-up DVD in this country is called,” explains the 32-year-old comedian. "My stand-up is the only chance I get to be myself. It is just me shouting and roaring at people. I don’t do politics and I don’t do satire; I just talk about stuff that I think happens to be funny, which is generally the same type of stuff as Naked Camera – anything that happens to you in life that is a little bit weird
“Universal are bringing out the DVD and I’m actually the first act they’ve signed in four years in Ireland, so that was kind of a nice thing. I never thought of this, but it is my first actual stand-up and my last Naked Camera DVD. Jake’s giving me the chance – he’s passing me the paper! That fucking whistling prick has his own TV show and everything! That’s what happens when you are completely talentless and full of confidence – you just become Jake! I decided that Jake’s getting too much credit, so I had to go out as myself. It is bad enough that he is out there. We will have to kill him off at some stage.”
Speaking of his Naked Camera alter ego, Gallagher has just been commissioned by RTÉ to film some Jake Stephens exploits in the US. The plan is for Jake to interview some American actors from iconic ’80s TV shows, such as The Incredible Hulk and ChiPs. It all sounds very much like a Borat-type piss take programme?
“It won’t be anything like Naked Camera because we all want to move on,” says Gallagher.
“I don’t think it will be like Borat. We don’t want to take the piss out of anybody. I don’t think we took the piss out of anybody in Naked Camera. I think Borat was hilarious, but we try to get the best out of someone. Naked Camera was funny because people insist on helping you. That is where the humour is, rather than just finding someone who is bigoted in some way and bringing that out in them. I don’t think that’s really what we want to do. I wouldn’t compare us to Borat but, of course, we can’t avoid it because it is about going to the States and winding people up. So, we are in the same boat, whether we like it or not, but it will be fairly different. We don’t know when we are going to shoot or where we are going yet. We don’t know anything. We are workshopping at the minute. It was one of those ideas that you throw out, not expecting it to come back, but then somebody says yes and you think, ‘Oh, fuck’! The working title is The Jake Show.”
It sounds like Jake Stephens could well be on his way to becoming a sex symbol with this new show?
“No – and if women ever did hit on him it would be really weird. That would be like men coming on to The Dirty Auld Wan. One guy did shout something funny at me the other day: ‘If you weren’t a comedian you’d be a bleeding virgin!’ I’m not anymore – thank God! Actually, the new DVD has a lot in it about my break-ups with ex-girlfriends, which they probably won’t like if they see it!”
Gallagher also recently “broke up” with booze – because, he says, it was cheating on him!
“I only gave up a couple of months ago. It was just like a long break-up – when you just realise that you are not enjoying the relationship but it takes a long time to come to terms with it. After a while I broke up with alcohol because I realised that it was cheating on me! It was letting other people hang around with her way too much. So, I just said, ‘You know something, I’m better than this.’ So, I walked out of the relationship. She is out there drinking with other people – the slut!”
The third instalment of Naked Camera on DVD, which has just been released, will be the final one. Gallagher admits the successful show is ending because they’ve run out of people to wind up. “It is the only reason it is over," he says. "I would love to do one every year. But it just kind of came to a natural end because we all knew that any more would be milking it. In my hearts of hearts, I knew it was kind of over.”
“The lads wanted to do their own thing as well. Patrick (McDonnell) just did his own show with Channel 4, The Idiots, and hopefully that’s going to go well. And Maeve (Higgins) wants to go touring because she is a dedicated stand-up, more than TV really. So, she wants to do tours in Australia and all that. It was time for me to move on and do something else as well. I’m going to work on some new stand-up material.”
But Gallagher says he has no plans to move abroad to further his career. “I’ve always had this confidence in the Irish thing, to be honest," he says. "I don’t think there is any need to go over to London anymore. It is a good thing to do if you want to do it, but I’ve had this determination about making a career here. Des Bishop, Tommy Tiernan and Pat Shortt have all proved it. So, that’s the road I’ve been trying to go down from the start.”