Irish stand-up PJ Gallagher made a name for himself winding people up in a variety of characters, from an old lady making explicit sexual propositions to unsuspecting people on the street to an escaped convict looking for help cutting through his handcuffs, filming the lot with secret cameras and putting it on the television. Now he is bringing the funny to China...
Do you have a favorite character?
I loved playing the little taxi driver man in the show Naked Camera. He was so far out there that nobody knew how to talk to him at all. All they knew was they were stuck in a car with him, and because he seemed so innocent, people seemed to trust him and say things to him they wouldn’t say to anybody else. I guess it’s a little like getting into a taxi and finding out your driver is an alien.
Winding people up like that all day... what is the most danger you got yourself into?
Honestly, I was never in any danger at all – it renewed my faith in people, doing that show. In fact, the general rule seemed to be that the more angry people got during the wind-up, the more funny they seemed to think it was when it was over. I got used to it after a while. [Co-star] Jim-Jim [Nugent] did get chased up the street by a guy with a knife once though!
What?! Details please...
He went into a butcher shop to do a wind-up, can’t remember the gag exactly, but it was something to do with him having to make animal noises instead of actually saying “beef” or “chicken” or whatever. The guy lost it almost immediately and came at Jim with a knife, chasing him down the street. It was early days and we weren’t long filming in Glasgow, but we got a laugh out of it.
Um... Ever regretted a sketch you’ve done?
No. I’ve regretted a few series though!
So what was your funniest wind-up?
Unfortunately we never got to broadcast it, but we were pretending to be zoo keepers in Dublin and approached a man with his granddaughter. We told him that a gorilla had told us with sign language that he was calling it names and we wanted him to apologize. He started screaming that the gorilla was a liar and he wouldn’t talk to liars. Just a great moment.
What about your success in America – why do you think they’ve taken to you so well?
I’m successful in America? Somebody owes me some dollars!
You got married in Vegas with two witnesses you didn’t know – how did your family react?
They were fine. They are all crazy, and the idea of putting them in a room together is not just our idea of hell, but theirs too. Having a family wedding for us would be like doing stand-up comedy in a minimum security prison.
You have a show around St Paddy’s Day in Shanghai – which Irish stereotype do you most embody?
Well I don’t drink and I don’t think the weather is too bad, so sometimes I don’t feel very Irish at all. I am a mother’s boy though, and if I leave the country for more than a week I start singing old songs of loneliness.
What do Irish and Chinese people have in common?
I guess I’ll find out, but I’m really banking on a sense of humor...
// Shanghai: The Punchline Comedy Club present PJ Gallagher, Keith Farnan and Andrew Stanley in Puxi and Pudong. RMB290. Mar 21, 8pm: Zapata’s, 5 Hengshan Lu, by Dongping Lu 衡山路5号, 近东平路 (5456 2471); Mar 22, 8pm: Kerry Hotel, 1388 Huamu Lu, by Fangdian Lu 花木路1388号, 近芳甸路 (6169 8886, fbreservations.khpu@thekerryhotels.com)
// Beijing: Wednesday March 19th, Home Plate Sanlitun, RMB250 (presale), RMB290 (door), 8:30pm. www.punchlinecomedy.com/beijing, 139 0639 1437
WIN:
We have a pair of tickets to each venue to give away. Simply answer the following question:
What is the name of PJ Gallagher’s old woman character who goes around making very sexual suggestions to unsuspecting members of the public?
Answers with the subject ‘Puxi’ or ‘Pudong’to win@urbanatomy.com by Mar 16.
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