by Already a big deal in Ireland, Tommy Tiernan is making his formal debut in the American marketplace this week with the CD/DVD release of Something Mental. A condensed version of his performance airs on Comedy Central tonight at 11 p.m.
The New York Times reviewer writes: The most surprising moment in the show may be when he dives into a
segment about his children. “This foulmouthed crazy man has kids?” you
may find yourself saying. It’s a concept more jarring than any of his
jokes. Ahem. As opposed to all the other "foulmouthed crazy man" comedians with kids? Anyhow. Tiernan’s November 2007 release, OK, Baby, sold more than 100,000 copies in five weeks in Ireland. When he appeared on David Letterman’s show last month, they let him have eight minutes. That’s fairly extraordinary considering most stand-ups are lucky to get half that. In that appearance, Tiernan talked about his kids and the differences between men and women in a way that suggested he had a Cosby-like storytelling nature about him.
In Something Mental, we wait 42 minutes to hear the first of those bits (the set is 67 minutes in all) and get to hear Tiernan swear quite a bit (because he’s an Irishman forced to speak the English language) and offer his viewpoints on drinking, the Pope, fitness, the Olympics, Jesus and religions, the Eskimos and more. He’s forced to hear his parents have sex, or as he describes it, "the spring symphony." A particularly funny bit has him explaining how much easier it would’ve been to learn about sex from his father instead from a fellow 10-year-old. He closes in graphic detail about his experiences taking sex "to the limits."
Extras on the DVD include an interview, "Walk in the Windy City" and "Meet the Badger: The Outtakes." Here are two clips that made it into the Comedy Central edition:
Related: My friend in comedy blogging, Todd Jackson at Dead-Frog, recently interviewed Tiernan.
