David Nicholas O'Doherty (; born 18 December 1975) is an Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright and son of renowned jazz pianist Jim Doherty. His stand-up has won many international awards, including the if.comedy award in 2008 and Best International Comedian at the 2014 Sydney Comedy Festival. O'Doherty has written several books, written two plays and released three comedy CDs. His latest book for children, ''Danger Is Everywhere'', illustrated by Chris Judge has been selected for the UNESCO Dublin, City of Literature Citywide Reading Campaign. In 2015 it was published in 10 languages around the world. He regards himself as "a failed jazz musician, scrambling about for something else to do with his life".

Early life

O'Doherty's father is pianist Jim Doherty. His grandfather was Kevin O'Doherty, an Irish hurdles champion, and his great-grandfather was Séamus O'Doherty, a head of the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

. He is the youngest of three children and has an older brother and sister who are seven and eight years older than him, respectively. He studied philosophy at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, where he was a member of the Jazz Society and a fake Breakdancing Society. It's also where his comedy career began. "I spent a lot of my time introducing things", he says, "concerts and bands, that sort of thing". "I remember my brother once bet me I couldn't get the word 'spaghetti' into an introduction for a piano recital in the Edmund Burke so I stood-up and said 'my brother has bet me I can't say the word spaghetti' and I got a laugh."

Comedic career

O'Doherty worked in a bicycle shop and in

telemarketing Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products, subscriptions or services, either over the phone or throu ...

and temping before he made his first stage appearance at Dublin's Comedy Cellar in 1998. His first full show was ''The Story of the Boy Who Saved Comedy'' which received a nomination for Perrier Best Newcomer when it was performed at

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. In 2006, he was nominated for an if.comedy award for his Edinburgh show, ''David O'Doherty Is My Name''. O'Doherty has performed at festivals across the world in locations that include Adelaide, Melbourne, Montreal, New York City and Wellington NZ, Moscow and Iceland. As a support act he first toured Ireland with

Tommy Tiernan Tommy Tiernan (; born 16 June 1969) is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his stand-up career, hosting '' The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom '' Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early l ...

, the United Kingdom with Rich Hall and the United States with Demetri Martin. In August 2008, O'Doherty won the If.comedy award at the Edinburgh Fringe for his show ''Let's Comedy'', which featured "a relationship in text messages, tunes played on a 3ft electronic keyboard, and a

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

attack". He was presented with the 2008 Intelligent Finance Comedy Award and a cheque for £8,000 (€10,000) by the previous winner Brendon Burns and the Australian author and television presenter

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

, ''The Modest Adventures of David O'Doherty'', began airing on

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. The six-part series was directed by John Carney, following the completion of his

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

film ''

Once Once may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Once'' (film), a 2007 Irish musical film by John Carney ** ''Once'' (musical), a 2011 stage adaptation of the film * ''Once'' (TV series), a 2017–2019 Argentine telenovela * Canal Once (Mex ...

''.

Literary career

O'Doherty has written widely for newspapers and magazines and also has two plays, two books and a radio series to his name. His debut book was a children's book entitled ''Ronan Long Gets It Wrong'', written in 2001. It was illustrated by David Roberts and published by Mammoth Storybooks. His first play is entitled ''Saddled'' and was written with Bryan Quinn. It was claimed as "the world's first theatrical production to feature live repair of audience members' bicycles". In 2008, he and fellow Irish comedian Maeve Higgins performed ''I Can't Sleep'', a play recommended for children aged 5–8. This was O'Doherty's first play for children. The play, which involved the audience entering the theatre to find both performers asleep in separate beds, was performed in both Dublin and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He has also written a series for

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division and service of Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels across Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, was the first broadcaster in ...

about bee detectives with his brother Mark, entitled ''The Bees of Manulla''. O'Doherty released a book detailing 100 false facts about

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. Its body is ...

s called ''100 Facts About Pandas''. He followed this up with ''100 Facts About Sharks'' which is 100 false facts about

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s. In 2014 he and illustrator, Chris Judge, released a children's book, ''Danger Is Everywhere: A Handbook for Avoiding Danger''.

Personal life

O'Doherty is an avid cyclist and owns, as of 2025, 18 bicycles. He has also stated publicly that he has never once eaten a turnip, and anyone who states otherwise will face legal ramifications. O'Doherty is a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Filmography

In 2008, O'Doherty starred alongside comedian Dylan Moran, Keith Allen and

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

in '' A Film with Me in It'', a cinematic release written by and starring his brother Mark Doherty.

Edinburgh Fringe shows

Awards and nominations for stand-up comedy

O'Doherty has been decorated with numerous awards for his achievements in comedy. In 1999, he won the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

So You Think You're Funny Comedy Competition at the

and was also a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Awards in the same year. He eventually won the if.comedy Award (formerly the Perrier Award) in 2008 for ''Let's Comedy''. He was also nominated for the Barry Award at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

in 2006 and in 2014 received the award for Best International Comedian at the Sydney Comedy Festival. , - , 1999 , ,

, ,

So You Think You're Funny Comedy Competition winner , , , - , 1999 , , , , BBC New Comedy Awards , , , - , 2000 , , , , Perrier Best Newcomer Award , , , - , 2003 , , , , ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly 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 cont ...

'' Irish Comedian of the Year , , , - , 2006 , , ''David O'Doherty is My Name'' , , If.comedy award , , , - , 2006 , , ''David O'Doherty is My Name'' , , Barry Award at the

, , , - , 2008 , , ''Let's Comedy'' , , If.comedy award , , , - , 2014 , , ''David O’Doherty Will Try To Fix Everything'' , , Best International Comedian Sydney Comedy Festival Awards , ,

Discography

O'Doherty has also released five live audio albums, ''Giggle Me Timbers (or Jokes Ahoy!)'', recorded in front of 35 people in his studio apartment and ''Let's David O'Doherty'' (2009), ''We Are Not The Champions'' (2012) and ''You Only Live'' (2015) recorded at Whelan's in Dublin.

References

External links

Official site
*
''Modest Adventures''
at

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

RTÉ press release
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odoherty, David 1975 births Living people Irish comedy musicians Irish male comedians Irish stand-up comedians Musicians from County Dublin People educated at St Michael's College, Dublin Comedians from Dublin (city) O'Doherty family