This is a subscriber-only article
PJ Gallagher has a lot to thank comedy for.
He jokes that if he hadn’t become a professional funny man, alongside Jason Byrne, he could have ended up in Mountjoy Prison.
“I never imagined we were going to get a career out of it.
"It was just two eejits talking a load of nonsense – and it actually ended up being a job. So thank God for that, because I’d probably just be in Mountjoy if I hadn’t become a comedian,” laughs PJ hysterically.
This supposition is particularly ironic at present, considering that The Young Offenders TV show, in which the Dubliner acts, has just begun airing.
I think it’s the best thing I have ever been involved with, to be honest with you.
Ever since the Cork-based Young Offenders film was released in cinemas it has been a huge success – and when it was launched on Netflix, it went on to grow its fan base even further.
Comedian PJ Gallagher.
So much so that The Young Offenders TV series is now airing on both the BBC and RTÉ, with a very favourable reaction from audiences thus far.
In the film, PJ plays drug dealer Ray and, as the TV show is a complete reset (it is as if the film never took place), he now plays the role of main characters Conor and Jock’s principal, with the two boys taking a liking to his daughters.
Speaking about the new TV show, PJ is full of enthusiasm and optimism – not giving away too many spoilers about what the rest of the series has in store, just conceding that he “has a very good feeling” about how things will go.
Of his current spate of comedy gigs, PJ says he is enjoying them more than any others he has ever toured with.
The reason being that it is the first time in 10 years the comedian is not battling severe stage fright.
Stage fright
“This tour has been the most enjoyable ever, because it’s the first time in 10 years that I have been able to do gigs and not be completely paralysed with fear before I go on stage.
"I got to the point where I didn’t do gigs for nearly two years and then I made a documentary about getting over the anxiety of stage fright,” he explains.
It was through the process of the documentary that I got over it and, if I am really honest, I don’t think any one particular thing that we did in the documentary worked.
I just think it was the constant having to think: ‘What are you so afraid of?’ And then realising that nothing can go wrong.
“Now [the stage fright is] gone, it’s completely gone. I still get nervous and I still get scared, but that’s natural and normal.
"I think you need that. The days of feeling sick and wanting to run away, that’s all gone, thankfully.”
Radio
As well as comedy and acting, PJ also co-presents The Breakfast Show on Classic Hits 4FM.
He says that, out of the three mediums he is involved in, radio is most definitely his favourite at the moment.
As always, PJ is full of laughs, quipping that because of all the driving involved in touring with comedy gigs “you are basically a courier, but instead of delivering packages, you deliver jokes”.
“Being a stand-up comedian is a lonely old road a lot of the time.
"Mostly you are just driving. You drive for maybe eight hours a day, you talk to an audience for an hour and you go home. That’s it – and when you talk nobody is allowed talk back,” he titters.
With radio you are part of a team, it’s every day. You get to know the people who are listening and it’s interactive.
Even with TV, it takes so long to get a response. With The Young Offenders, we filmed it in the summer and it’s only coming out now, whereas radio is so instant.”
Both PJ and the aforementioned Jason Byrne were working in the same place before they got into comedy.
If it hadn’t been for Jason, PJ says he would never have gone into comedy and had the opportunity to do shows such as Naked Camera, which is cemented in the minds of the nation.
But, despite all that, from a young age PJ displayed comedic traits and turned this into a career that has gone on to encompass many different mediums.
“I wasn’t the most academic kid in school, I was always interrupting and I was always looking for something funny.
"I would just use comedy, jokes and humour to break the monotony of everyday life – and I probably just ended up being a comedian because of it.”
SHARING OPTIONS: