Radioheads

It was a match made in heaven, or in hotpress, which is very much the same thing. In the early 1980s, Arthur Mathews and Paul Wonderful (Woodful) both laboured long hours in the Art department of Ireland’s most infamous music magazine, amusing themselves and colleagues by performing sketches and skits when they should have been working. Eventually, the duo collaborated in the U2 tribute/spoof outfit The Joshua Trio, enjoying cult success, including an approving chuckle from Bono himself, before Mathews re-located to the UK with fellow

hotpress man Graham Linehan to pursue a comedy-writing career.

Meanwhile, Wonderful expanded his live repertoire to include ‘70s tribute act The Glam Tarts, Tony St. James, Ding Dong Denny O’Reilly and Abbaesque, (and also dipped a toe into the icy waters of stand-up with a series of character-based routines). Mathews was by now writing for Alexi Sayle and Paul Whitehouse amongst others, eventually achieving BAFTA award-winning stardom with Fr. Ted. The pair remained firm friends – Woodful appeared in Fr. Ted – and they have recently been writing sketches for BBC 2’s Big Train series. Yet this is the first time they have broadcast together for RTE.

How did the idea for Luneen Live originate?

“Like a lot of people,” explains Mathews, “I grew up listening to phone-in shows on RTE and I was always curious as to who the callers were. No matter what the topic under discussion was, there seemed to be dozens of people who had been waiting for this moment all their lives to air their views on a subject which apparently was central to their very being. And it didn’t matter if the discussion was about entry into Europe or the clocks going back in winter, you’d still have people at each other’s throats over the phone, with a bemused presenter in the role of referee. It was apparent to me that most of the callers ringing in appeared to be barking mad.”

The format, and indeed the cast, featured in Mathews last proposal to RTE radio, Morning Arousal, which was not commissioned by RTE after a pilot episode was submitted. At the time, the writer told hotpress that Morning Arousal might have been “a bit mad” for RTE, so why the change of heart at Montrose?

“In actual fact,” explains Arthur, “the door was never completely closed on that project. What happened was that we made a pilot show for daytime radio and I think they felt it might have been a bit surreal for the time slot. But RTE have become a lot more adventurous in recent years concerning comedy and particularly concerning the success of Irish comedians abroad, and I think the availability of a later slot swayed their thinking. Also, Billy Magrath is currently engaged in promoting home-grown comedy on TV and radio, and we’ve benefitted from his support.”

Has he toned down the material this time around?

“Not at all,” he insists. “The basic idea is the phone-in format, with elements of magazine and Arts radio shows included, but it’s more surreal than satirical, and we’ve tried to make even the most unbelievable situations as believeable as possible. The other factor that I think will stand to the show’s success is the calibre of the cast, who are all naturally funny people. They’re a very talented bunch.”

Indeed, the cast list reads like a Who’s Who of Irish comedy. As well as Mathews himself, there’s Apres Match’s Risteard Cooper, D’Unbellievables’ Pat Short, Paths To Freedom and The Lounges’ Deirdre O’Kane, Fr. Ted’s Patrick McDonnell, Paula O’Reilly and, of course, old collaborator Paul Woodful. As someone who is more used to the live arena, how did Woodful find working in radio?

“I’d previously done some work on The Saturday Show,” says Paul, “but it is a very different discipline to playing live. The immediate feedback you get from a live audience can be encouraging, but with the cast we have on Luneen Live it was almost the same! Although we had formal scripts and directions when we went into the studio there was the inevitable messing around that goes along with any kind of comedy-teamwork and that often brought out elements in the material that I wouldn’t have been conscious of at the writing stage. I’d never previously written for other performers so in a way that was one of the most rewarding aspects of the experience for me, seeing what other comedians would do with your script.

“Our producer Kevin Burns was very helpful in giving us an idea of what would work best on radio and even came in with a few great sketches of his own. In some ways, it’s a lot less stressful than working live, but then you’re also aware that the material has to be good enough for the talent that we’re using. Luckily it seems to have come together perfectly and I’m really happy with the result.”

Deirdre O’Kane is perhaps the most experienced radio and TV performer in the cast and is an ideal candidate to play Luneen Keogh. Has she enjoyed the chance to ‘Do A Marian Finucane’?

“It’s great fun to do,” explains Deirdre, “but it’s given me a whole new respect for people who host live radio shows. Even though we were working to a script there were times that I found myself going, ‘What the hell’s going on here!!?’ My heart goes out to people like Marian Finucane who really don’t know what’s coming next, it’s a real talent. Actually I’m dying to hear what she thinks of the show. I think she’ll like it!”

Luneen Live starts a six-part run on RTE Radio 1 from Friday, October 26th