The beet is back

After the interview, Johnny B proclaims to his Snapchat following that speaking with Irish Country Living has prompted him to launch a campaign to bring sugar beet production back to Ireland.

“We’re bringing it back, man, bringing back the beet,” he laughs into the phone.

We are not too sure of Johnny B’s capabilities in relation to the return of sugar beet (he hasn’t a blade of grass to his name), but the 2 Johnnies have documented the revival of something else very carefully: the boom.

Cranes spotted in the Carlow skyline, lads bringing takeaway coffees into work: it has all been reported on the Johnnies’ Snapchat accounts. So much so, that recently they released a song about it – The Boom Is Back –which shot to No 1 on iTunes.

If you don’t know who the 2 Johnnies are, it is for one of two reasons: you are either not on social media or you’ve been living under a rock. They are a comedy-music-rap duo from Co Tipperary, made up of Johnny B and Johnny Smacks, who appeal to a demographic of people from seven to 70.

They are heralded as Ireland’s Ant and Dec (with more GAA and farming references) or compared to the D’Unbelievables. Johnny Smacks says they are often called the “Young Believables” and states that the parallels drawn between the 2 Johnnies and the D’Unbelievables, who “are heroes around Tipp”, sit fine with him.

Johnny Smacks is from Roscrea; his full name is Johnny McMahon. After moving to Cahir a few years ago, he was dubbed Johnny Smacks because of his long puck out (“Smack it, Johnny”). Johnny B’s full title is Johnny O’Brien, which got shortened to Johnny B simply because there were four John O’Briens in his class at school.

Humble Beginnings

Johnny B explains that the inception of the duo is wrapped up in a local pantomime.

When he was asked to take part in the Cahir panto, he enlisted the help of his friend Johnny Smacks and they went from there.

“We wrote a 10-minute independent slot in the panto and people couldn’t get over how funny it was. The following year we MC’d our GAA club’s Strictly Come Dancing. Then people were just coming up saying; ‘Lads, I think ye’re really funny. Ye should do something.’”

They started a Facebook page where they began posting their songs and sketches. It now has 150,000 likes. At the moment they are travelling the country with their tour, The Big Show Small Show, which they say is akin to Guns ’n’ Roses Appetite For Destruction.

“We are down around real small places where the whole town will come,” says Johnny B. “You can do a show in one place to 500 people and 15 minutes up the road do another show to 500 people. So we’ve been flat-out gigging, and we haven’t been north of Tipperary.

“People say to us: ‘What are ye doing playing in Ballylanders, Kil an Erin and those places?’

“ We went to Kil an Erin and it’s in the absolute middle of nowhere at a crossroads – 650 tickets sold.”

Field of dreams

Some of their finest moments are rooted in the GAA. Johnny B explains that one of the highlights of their careers so far was playing Tipperary’s All-Ireland homecoming in 2016.

“The first song we released was really The Premier Rap in 2016, when Tipp were in the All-Ireland and then we were on RTÉ’s Up For The Match. Playing the homecoming in Semple – that was life changing, there were about 40,000 people at that.”

Most of their songs and sketches are about GAA, rural life and farming. Their two farmer characters are called Tom and Jerry. These scenes are always shot on Johnny Smacks’ dairy farm. “I’m not a farmer, though. I wouldn’t be one for getting the auld hands dirty, now,” exclaims Smacks. “I did dehorn a couple of calves before and it was a harrowing experience. I used to clean out stables, but I’ve actually developed hay fever. Honestly.”

Full-time Johnnies

The lads are now both full-time Johnnies. Johnny Smacks handed in his notice at work six months ago – the day he finished his butchering apprenticship – and Johnny B has taken a step back from his family’s hurley-making business, something he speaks very passionately about.

“To leave a family business is difficult; it’s a big emotional decision. I would tip in and out, but I really don’t have time. It’s good for material though, because of the characters you meet when they come in buying a hurley. I’m up to speed on all the U/12 and U/14 games in Tipperary.”

With the 2 Johnnies’ popularity rising by the day, they get recognised nearly everywhere they go. If they go to a match they have to make sure and sit at the aisle, as they know they will be asked for so many pictures that sitting in the middle would cause too much disruption.

“At a Mayo game there was this old lady behind us. Eventually she tapped us on the shoulder and said: “Who are ye?’ I told her Smacks played soccer for Inter Milan and I was a country singer,” laughs Johnny B.

Although fundamentally based in humour, the 2 Johnnies is treated like a business – and these lads have big plans. They are launching their new website www.2johnnies.ie soon, where they are going to be selling half zips, sliotars, CDs and tickets. They have a lot more songs in the pipeline and are currently writing a TV show.

There may still be a question mark over the future of sugar beet, but it looks like the 2 Johnnies are staying put. CL