Jarlath Regan (born 1980) is a
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
-based Irish comedian and
podcaster
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...
.
A former
graphic design consultant,
he began his stand-up comedy career in 2003 and by the end of 2004 was a finalist for three major UK comedy newcomer awards:
So You Think You're Funny
So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom.
The finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Past ...
,
BBC New Comedy Awards
The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards.
It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perform ...
and the
Chortle Student Comedian of the Year
The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle websit ...
. While attending
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
, he was auditor of the
Literary and Historical Society.
Shortly after this he began writing sketches, and material for other comedians and TV shows and established himself as a regular face on the Irish stand-up comedy circuit.
Regan has produced five one man shows for the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, publishing 2 illustrated books, appearing as a regular contributor on radio and television while also performing at comedy festivals worldwide, he is recognised as the leader of a new generation of talented comics emerging from Ireland.
Stand-up shows
Regan began stand-up in the early 2000s.
In 2006, he performed as part of the first ever Irish gala at
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
Just for Laughs.
Regan's shows have included 2007's
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
show "Nobody Knows... Jarlath Regan", 2018/19's "Organ Freeman", which chronicled his experience as a
live-organ donor, and 2019/2020's "Notion's Eleven" which has been recorded in
Vicar Street
Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. The venue is own ...
, for DVD release in late 2020.
Television work
Regan wrote and performed sketches on Scope (2007), an Irish science television programme for teenagers and was a regular panellist during the 2008–2009 season of ''
The Panel''.
In 2010, Regan co-presented ''
The Rumour Room'', a teen entertainment series part of
TRTÉ
''TRTÉ'' is an Irish children's television program that airs on public service broadcaster RTÉ2. Its target demographic is people between 7 and 15 years of age. On some networks — Virgin Media Ireland, eir Vision and Vodafone TV—TRTÉ is ...
on
RTÉ Two
(RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...
television. Some highlights from the series included his interview with
Chris Rock and
Adam Sandler, a series of comedy sketches in which Regan beat toddlers at physical tests of strength and an in-studio game called "The €21 Challenge" in which Regan forced a child to gamble their pocket money in an unusual game of blackjack.
''An Irishman Abroad''
In 2013, Regan began ''An Irishman Abroad'', a series of weekly
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
s interviewing Irish people and people of Irish descent about their lives and gaining insights into the experiences of Irish people abroad, both successes and failures.
It won the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
's award for "Best New Audio Podcast" for 2013.
Most of the guests of the more than 350 episodes have been celebrities from the worlds of comedy (
Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...
,
Jason Byrne,
Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan () (born 22 May 1968) is an Irish television writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), ''Black Books'' (2000–2004) and '' The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013). He has also ...
), sport (
Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games. Her 2000 m wor ...
,
Richard Hughes), as well as film and television (
Jack Reynor
Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', ''Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', '' Sing Street'', and ''Midsommar'', as well as the seri ...
,
Aidan Gillen
Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, ...
,
Paul Mescal
Paul Mescal (; born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor. Born in Maynooth, he studied acting at The Lir Academy and subsequently performed in plays in Dublin theatres. Mescal rose to fame with his role in the miniseries '' Normal People'' (2020), ...
).
Some of the guests are successful but not particularly famous, but have a story to tell. In 2014, ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' included the podcast among the "best comedy podcasts", and Niall Byrne of the ''
Irish Independent'' included it in a list of "world's greatest podcasts".
In 2017,
Diaspora website ''IrishCentral.com'' described the podcast as "some of the best conversations with Irish people you'll ever hear". Pat Carty of
Hot Press
''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes.
History
''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...
attributes this success to the non-reliance on a "parade of famous faces".
In 2020, Stevie Gallacher of
The Sunday Post
''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...
described the podcast as proof that the Irish have the "
gift of the gab".
In 2014, Paul Campbell of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
's "Talking Sport" blog wrote of the
Jerry Flannery
Jeremiah Paul Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is a former Irish rugby union player and current coach.
During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury pro ...
edition that "every single young person reading this should go download this podcast and listen to it every week for the rest of time".
A justice-themed spin-off series ''Irishman:Behind Bars'' was launched in 2019,
while a basketball-themed spin-off series, ''Inside Basketball'' and
US politics
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a b ...
-themed series, ''Irishman In America'',
were launched in 2020. ''Irishman Running Abroad'' also launched in 2020.
Irishman Running Abroad With Sonia O’Sullivan: The Challenge & Explanation For Our New Series
/ref>
The podcast moved to Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...
in August 2020.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regan, Jarlath
1980 births
Living people
Auditors of the Literary and Historical Society (University College Dublin)
Irish male comedians
Irish stand-up comedians
Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom
People from County Kildare
RTÉ television presenters
Irish podcasters
Date of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)