"But we were Only Doing Our Job!"

THERE we were, simply trying to keep the headlines straight and the captions in all the right places, little knowing that in the course of those long production nights in the late-eighties, we were also helping to give birth to a new era in Irish comedy.
Gift Of The Gag, a new book by the Dublin-based journalists Stephen Dixon and Deirdre Falvey, recalls how Fr Ted writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan first teamed up in Hot Press and also gives a flavour of the general air of riotous office humour that would eventually be translated into print, stage, screen - and Ding Dong Denny O'Reilly (aka Paul Wonderful).
"Mathews was Art Director," the authors relate, "and Wonderful joined the magazine as his part-time assistant in I987 while he was studying graphic design at Dublin's National College Of Art And Design. 'They thought they were hiring a shit-hot young lay-out guy,' says writer and broadcaster George Byrne, 'and what they got was a madman'.
"Mathews and Wonderful were not the only funny people in the office; they were part of a writing and production team that included Liam Fay, Damian Corless, Liam Mackey, Fiona Looney, Declan Lynch and Byrne. Fay, Lynch, Mackey and Corless are still among Ireland's wittiest commentators, Looney went on to create RTE radio's Monica Moody and Byrne, who can prove that U2 are less Irish than The Smiths under FIFA parentage rules, remains a most chucklesome rock critic. 'Production weekends at Hot Press were like open mic. sessions,' he says."
How very true, and if all those kind words weren't enough to ensure a favourable welcome for Gift Of The Gag in this parish, it has also to be acknowledged that Falvey and Dixon have generally done a fine and comprehensive job in wrestling with the hydra-headed beast that is Irish comedy on the eve of the millennium. Featuring interviews with all the top names and tracing the evolution of the new wave of comedy from its roots in tiny pubs to the small screen and the big stage, this extensively illustrated account will tell you pretty much all you need to know about the subject and, via judicious use of performance quotes, ensure a good few belly laughs along the way to boot.
Oh, and don't forget Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan's new BBC sit-com Hippies starts this friday.n
* Published by Blackstaff, Gift Of The Gag - The Explosion In Irish Comedy, by Stephen Dixon and Deirdre Falvey is on sale now, priced #14.99.