February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The intercession of Aer Lingus took him from Ireland to JFK to debut on this side of the ocean a new show entitled “Cracked” that is by turns ribald, raucous and meandering, but never less than uproariously funny.
Tiernan honed the material for the “Cracked” show last year during a six-week walking tour of Ireland that took him to modest venues in dozens of small towns and villages. Like a medieval Irish bard of yore, Tiernan tramped through the weather with his knapsack on his back, pinned up a few notices announcing the show, and road-tested his evolving material in places that don’t usually feature on the map for internationally renowned standup performers on tour. In his off-duty hours, Tiernan mixed with all kinds of people that he met, togging out in midfield with a soccer team made up of African refugees, drinking tea with nuns, and supping pints of Guinness with farmers in country bars. All of them became grist to his comedy mill, as he gathered material for his new routine.
When he takes the stage in New York, Tiernan opens the show with an explanation — not an apology or a warning — for the upcoming barrage of swear words that pepper his gags ands stories. He contends that the English language is a poor instrument in the mouth of an Irishman trying to explain himself to New Yorkers, and creates a wall between him and his audience — a wall he breaks down using cursing as his chisel. And off he goes, demolishing that barrier and putting a new spin on the well-worn subjects beloved of observational comics the world over: memories of childhood and school, the tribulations of fatherhood, and relationship misunderstandings with the woman in his life. But Tiernan sets himself apart from the crowd with his demented, anarchic delivery — a puddle-of-consciousness that feels effortless, as though each story had just occurred to him as he stepped onto the stage. Operating without props, Tiernan commands the room with such confidence that he even dispenses with the microphone, a move few comedians have the nerve or the voice to get away with.
A winner in 1996 of the coveted Perrier Award, a winner last year of the Nokia Orange “Best of The Fest” Award at Edinburgh Comedy Festival, and a sensation in Leitrim, Longford and Australia, Tiernan has yet to make an impact in the U.S. — but if you like laughing, make the most of this opportunity to see the rising star in the flesh in his first New York run.