Irish comedian Dara O Briain has been a favorite of mine for a while, but this video clip of him supporting videogames as an artistic medium may have catapulted him right to the top of my love list.
In this clip, from his recent Live At The Apollo gig, O Briain comes out to the audience as a gamer and points out how silly it is that the largest entertainment medium in the world should be so shameful to enjoy. He then goes on to talk about what videogames do that no other art form does, and is as funny as usual in doing so.
He even slagged off the Wii. This man's hardcore!
Seriously, I urge all of you to watch the clip. It's so rare to see a comedian actually dare to tell jokes about games, despite the fact that they're big enough now for the jokes to resonate with an audience. Also fantastic to see the audience responding, proving that comedians should tell more game jokes.
Great clip, great comic, and great to hear a mainstream BBC audience cheer at the mention of Metal Gear Solid. This video has made my day.
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I hate to be "that guy" but Dara O Briain is an Irish comic, not Brittish, even if he does do alot of work for the BBC. But yes Jim is righthe is utterly fantastic!
I saw this awhile ago and honestly thought it was kind of awkward and not funny. The only part that made me chuckle was when he acknowledged that he probably lost a good portion of his audience by talking about stuff they don't understand.
nice one. i've heard the joke about unlocks before somewhere. I also remember Jeremy Clarkson talking about in, maybe it was in the top gear... Though, they mostly have fun with racing games
That was really funny.
Too bad he tried to break some gaming stereotypes ('You are not allowed to enjoy it') but re-enforced the Wii stereotype (that it 'doesn't count' and that there's only kiddie shovelware for it).
Oh well, I can hardly make a fuss about two lines when I was laughing so hard at pretty much everything else he said. The MGS part especially was just greatness.
I tried a joke about Kinect and Wii at my ffffffffffffffirst ever comedy show ! ( french comedy show :D ) in a bar !
It didnt worked that well but it good laught !
BUT THIS GUY IS SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER xD I hate him a bit because of the good jokes now are for HIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM xD, I will have to work hard my kinect jokes xD.
Loooooooove the comparaison of Game and book xD Its true it's the only art "judging" who much you are good or attentive xD.
I saw this last night and I love everything Dara O'briain does but this was especially great. Also, not to be pedantic but I think he's from the Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland.
As a number of people have already said, he's Irish not British.
What changed your mind between the time you wrote the title and the first sentence of this article?
Good stuff, it's not often you get comedians who really use video games in their comedy. (Outside of passingly referencing a console.) The MGS part was especially great.
"The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller islands.[6] There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom) and Ireland (also described as the Republic of Ireland)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_isles
This man is a genius. He knows how hard it is to pitch video game comedy to a general crowd. Not to mention he approached the jokes in a way that really could appeal to everybody. Comics make jokes about every other form of art, and he nailed it! I really hope the next generation of comics to come can do sketches like this one.
@ SF Legend
Hate to be a bit of a douche, but there is difference between the British Isles and Great Britain.
Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales
United Kingdom: Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The British Isles: United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
You are not British if you come from the British Isles, you are British if you come from Great Britain. Northern Ireland is a special case where you can claim citizenship for either Britain or Ireland, or both.
Dara was one of my favourite comedians, then I saw this a while ago and that changed to full blown man-crush, I was hoping someone at Dtoid would pick this up.
I also think it’s kind of a big deal that here we have a 38 year old man talking about games as an art form,on main stream prime-time television, comparing them to books, and getting huge laughs from most of the audience.
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Contest:
2:00 PM on 12.10.2010 | 
Haha.
Oh, Wii.
Too bad he tried to break some gaming stereotypes ('You are not allowed to enjoy it') but re-enforced the Wii stereotype (that it 'doesn't count' and that there's only kiddie shovelware for it).
Oh well, I can hardly make a fuss about two lines when I was laughing so hard at pretty much everything else he said. The MGS part especially was just greatness.
I tried a joke about Kinect and Wii at my ffffffffffffffirst ever comedy show ! ( french comedy show :D ) in a bar !
It didnt worked that well but it good laught !
BUT THIS GUY IS SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER xD I hate him a bit because of the good jokes now are for HIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM xD, I will have to work hard my kinect jokes xD.
Loooooooove the comparaison of Game and book xD Its true it's the only art "judging" who much you are good or attentive xD.
But my boss and my other boss are gone, so it's okay. :)
That said, it was pretty funny.
What changed your mind between the time you wrote the title and the first sentence of this article?
Still it's great that he got a mention at all!
Very funny guy
I'll let the whole Wii bit slide.
Still, good stuff. I'd kill for another GamesWipe though.
Still, good stuff. I'd kill for another GamesWipe though.
And I personally excuse the Wii comment because he attacks the complexity of control schemes immediately afterwards.
Him and Frankie are the best.
"The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller islands.[6] There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom) and Ireland (also described as the Republic of Ireland)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_isles
Hate to be a bit of a douche, but there is difference between the British Isles and Great Britain.
Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales
United Kingdom: Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The British Isles: United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
You are not British if you come from the British Isles, you are British if you come from Great Britain. Northern Ireland is a special case where you can claim citizenship for either Britain or Ireland, or both.
Ron White it also H-ilarious!
I also think it’s kind of a big deal that here we have a 38 year old man talking about games as an art form,on main stream prime-time television, comparing them to books, and getting huge laughs from most of the audience.
I'm fairly certain you are a big fat fuck
I'm fairly certain you are a big fat fuck
I definitely have that reaction every time I visit my folks and play the newest FPS (usually Call of Duty) that my little brother picked up.