Brouhaha

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It changes from time to time. I’m very proud that I managed to produce two novels. When I was a kid, I didn’t know about comedy, I didn’t really ever see myself as an actor. I surrounded myself with books when I was a kid. So I suppose if I had any sort of notions about myself, artistically, it would have been to be a writer. And having sort of managed – spaced apart over a span of 25 years – to produce two, I am quite proud of that.

When I was 12 I got a job shelling peas at a local restaurant. In exchange for a few hours every weekend I was paid 50p and a can of Lilt. Does that qualify as my first paid job? With the Jubilee weekend celebrations well underway, Shabnam Russo talks to Nikki and Adil about her creation for the pudding competition, a rose falooda cake, which made it through to the finals. I found it interesting to have three main characters and to see the story from each of their pint of views, however I thought this made the book a little too long and my attention was lost. As a murder mystery the book has no problem with providing suspects, but I felt that the book ran out of steam midway through. Dove has left little behind to give Sharkey any clues about what he had discovered, except an avant-garde mural in the local shopping centre, and a rather surreal hand-drawn graphic novel he wrote about a character called Brouhaha - both of which bizarrely seem to reference many of the residents of Tullyanna.About the Author: Ardal O’Hanlon is an actor, comedian, writer, and documentary filmmaker. A star of several high-profile television series, including Death in Paradise, My Hero, and the BAFTA-winning Father Ted, he is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel Talk of the Town (1998). He lives in Dublin, Ireland. Taskmaster was a big deal for Ardal. ‘It was very liberating. Five years ago, I’d have run a mile. I’d avoided reality shows where I’d have to be myself because I’m quite shy, so I’ve always been happier adopting a role. Even doing stand-up you’re being an exaggerated version of yourself. But with the pandemic, I changed. We had lots of time to think, and I realised being yourself on television is not that big a deal in the big scheme of things.’ Yes, when I co-founded an alternative comedy club with two university pals above a pub in Dublin. We were influenced by alternative British sitcoms such as The Young Ones. I was only performing about one gig a month and it was a hand-to-mouth existence. Most small towns in Ireland are wonderful places in so many ways. There's a great sense of community. But, under the surface, there's all sorts of things going on Walking out on stage at the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith irishculturalcentre.co.uk , after receiving the most scrupulously comprehensive of introductions, Ardal O’Hanlon saw fit to inform audiences that the intro had in fact left out the swimming medals he won at age seven – and just like that, he had the audience laughing. It set a sound precedent for the rest of the night.

With Dancing At Lughnasa, everything (made it special). I’ve never worked with the National Theatre before, in some respects it’s the Holy Grail for actors. It’s got a great history of putting on brilliant work by Irish writers over the years, and this is just a really important play. It certainly won’t be so long before you can see him again though as, in April, Ardal takes to the stage at The National Theatre in Josie Rourke’s Dancing at Lughnasa, an award-winning Brian Friel play set in Donegal in the ’30s, alongside Siobhán McSweeney and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. The razor-sharp, violent and darkly comic second novel from actor, comedian and writer Ardal O'Hanlon. It was a comfortable existence by the standards of the day, although professionals like my dad were paying 70pc tax so there wasn’t much disposable income. Everything was hard earned and my parents were very careful.

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When Covid came, I thought, “What am I going to do with my life?” Then suddenly the manuscript was staring me in the face. It was a godsend. I live with such stress all the time – good stress in the sense I’m always adrenaline-fuelled from performing live and travelling every week, which leaves you with a low-level anxiety. But in the pandemic, I didn’t have that. To shut myself away to write was really enjoyable.’ Then, overnight, it all stopped. “Suddenly, I was drained of adrenalin. My body didn’t quite shut down, but for the first time that I could remember in 30 years, 40 years, I relaxed. Completely. And yes, my income fell off a cliff. But there were compensations. It was strange but there was a sense of almost exhilaration.”