The Bottler did it

“It was an accident, an absolute accident,” explains Brendan Grace when I ask how he began his 30 year comedy career.

“I was a singer and a guitar player, listening to Planxty, Sweeney’s Men, Emmett Spiceland and the showbands and I began to play with an outfit called The Gingermen. It was close harmony stuff and I really loved it. We were very serious about delivering the goods and playing in tune. Eventually during the breaks between songs for tuning up and things I began to tell a few jokes. The comedy kind of snuck in, really. By the time I went solo in the ‘70s it had become a major part of the act, but it was honestly never a planned thing. I wanted to be Danny Doyle and sing all these heartfelt ballads and people at gigs would be calling for ‘The Wedding Bit’ or Bottler… For me, these were initially bits that I’d throw in because it took me ages to tune up. No digital tuners in those days let me tell you.”

For those unfamiliar with Brendan Grace’s particular comedic style the obvious comparison would be with Billy Connolly, yet Grace pre-dated Connolly’s popularity in Ireland by several years.

“I think it’s a valid comparison, not in terms of material but in terms of how we’d both developed. The musical background, the drawing on personal experience and observation for material instead of telling standard jokes. Also I was the first Irish ‘alternative comedian’ to record albums and appear on The Late Late Show. Mind you, it wasn’t called alternative comedy then, it was just funny.”

Still a mainstay of Brendan’s set is his errant Dublin schoolboy character. How did he come up with ‘Bottler’.

“He was more or less a concoction of my own childhood memories and stuff I picked up from mates. Do you know I still don’t know where the name came from? When I first started out he was a mean little gurrier but he’s mellowed a lot since then. He’s a bit of an innocent, there’s a lot of me in him, or him in me, maybe. I think he’s someone that people identify with, he’s an idea rather than a real person. Everybody remembers somebody like him at school, but nobody will ever say ‘yes, that was me!’ It’s like the wedding thing I do, people often say ‘jazus, my sister’s wedding was just like that’ but if Irish weddings were all like that you’d never get the insurance.

“To answer your question I don’t sit down and invent the characters, they just come to me, sometimes mid-gig. You might see some terribly grand lady laugh at a joke and become that woman telling the gag, fracturing the gag, at a Foxrock coffee morning the next day. Or you watch a guy count out his change to pay a waitress and wonder if he’s the guy that always holds up your checkout queue at the supermarket. Wherever the shortest queue is, there’s your man at the front, rootin’ in his pocket for the exact change. And now you need a shave. There’s milk in your trolley that’s past its sell-by date. Long-life milk. The shaggin’ Euro’s come in and you’ve only got old money.”

Brendan Grace relocated to the USA in the early ‘90s, despite a string of sell-out live-shows, pantomimes and several RTE top-rated variety shows under his belt. What prompted the move?

“I felt I’d come as far as I could in my career in this country. I felt it wouldn’t be a bad thing to stay off the scene in Ireland for a while. Any entertainer will confess to being wary of over-exposure, especially when you’re at the top of your game. At that time the vehicles, in terms of film or television comedy series weren’t really available, so I felt that in order to stay fresh I needed the challenge of a new audience.

“I had been booked to entertain Frank Sinatra while he was in Dublin with Liza Minelli and Sammy Davis Junior, and we became friends, to the point where he had me open for him at some of his UK gigs and later in the USA. He had done a similar favour for Joey Bishop years before. And I found Sinatra a hugely gracious man, incidentally. He suggested his manager might help me out and I began to play concerts all across the USA so I discussed it with my family and we moved.”

Has gigging for so long in the US changed his approach?

“Not really except that you’ve got to speak more clearly since Americans don’t speak English, they speak American. It’s not the same language! But I would travel to Ireland a lot, just to touch base and charge the batteries. The only snag about coming over here is that I always plan to check out some of the local comedy talent at The International Bar or wherever and I never do. I always meet friends on the way and it’s that ‘ah jazus, Brendan just one more’ situation. I’ve no intention of showing up at a new comedy gig half cut! But I know from what the guys on Fr. Ted told me that there’s a lot of first class stuff around.”

Ah, Fr.Ted. Connoisseurs of the show will remember Grace’s chilling character Fr. Fintan Stack, a positively demonic creation which introduced a darkly comic element to the show.

“The writers had the script but they didn’t know how the character should be played. I remembered a particularly sadistic teacher from my youth who used to speak through his teeth and smile when he was telling you how he was going to punish you,” explains Brendan. “C’mere now Grace,” he hisses, “C’mon up here now and I’ll give six of the best, y’little shhhiiiteeeeee…”

The hackles on the back of your reporter’s neck rise. This really is deeply unpleasant stuff.

“I’d never really done any straight acting before but I loved playing this bad, creepy guy,” laughs Brendan. “Even now kids come up to me in the street and ask me to go ‘I’ll put your head through that wall so I will’. Of course they’re not allowed to do that now. The interesting thing is that they’re now airing the show on US television, so I’m waiting for the call. Maybe I’ll be the first ever Irish Bond villian, or an Irish gangster boss in prohibition Boston, I’d love to do that!”

What can fans expect of the Gaiety shows expect from his latest outing?

“The familiar characters are all there, but the material will be stuff that I’ve developed over recent tours in the US and here. I tend to tour the basic ideas and adapt them as I go until the idea just clicks and you know you’ve got it perfect. It really is a constant rehearsal but doing the Gaiety is like taking it to Broadway, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Brendan Grace is at the Gaiety Theatre from October 28th-November 3rd. His new video, Good Grace It’s Brendan, recorded live at University Concert Hall, Limerick is released on October 19th