The Friendliest Man in Comedy - Pat Monahan aka The Talkinator
In this episode, Danny is joined by comedian Pat Monahan. Pat is half Iranian, half Irish and claims he used to spend his holidays in customs. A regular at the Edinburgh Fringe, Pat has won TV competitions, Take The Mic and Show Me The Funny. He was also the warmup man for the late Paul O´Grady and alongside fellow comic Bob Slayer, holds the world record for the longest hug.
He and Danny reminisce about some of the stars they worked with over the years, including Johnny Vegas, Robin Williams, Paul O´Grady and Barry Cryer. Pat shares how he got into comedy and was able to use his experience of racism and life in general as inspiration.
If you can´t get enough of these podcasts, head to https://www.patreon.com/DannyHurst to access my exclusive, member-only, fun-filled and fact-packed history-related videos.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The way comedians create their material has drastically changed. Pat explains how. Everything you do in life, especially comedy, is about your upbringing. People used to think Pat made up the fact he is Iranian/Irish. Iran used to be very secular. Paul O´Grady was very supportive of others. Pat never swears on stage or talks about sex on stage. The reasons for this are quite surprising. Australian comedy shows are decades behind the UK. Woke-ness is nothing new, it just changes its name. Nowadays people get offended on behalf of other people. Pat has experienced racism and regularly uses it as material for his act. Bob Slayer did a live gig while breaking the hug world record with Pat. Pat regularly gets mixed up with the singer from Train.BEST MOMENTS
“We didn´t Google stuff we had to make it up .”
“Why would you put a to-do list on social media?”
“When I first came to London and told people I was a Man City fan, I used to get the sort of looks reserved for the terminally ill.”
“I was just motor mouthing, because I was scared of a heckler getting in there.”
“You lose about 70% of the audience.”
“If you try and please everyone … you're gonna fail completely.”
“Young people today wouldn´t last 3 minutes in the 80s. They´re just so gentle.”
“You might have hecklers, but they will be positive hecklers.”
“I have to pull my punches.”
EPISODE RESOURCES
https://www.instagram.com/patmonahan
https://www.facebook.com/patmonahan
HOST BIO
Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can.
CONTACT AND SOCIALS
https://instagram.com/dannyjhurst
facebook.com/danny.hurst.9638https://twitter.com/dannyhurst
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-hurst-19574720
This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
Unusual Histories
"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." James Joyce.
That was me at school as well. Ironically, I ended up becoming a historian. The Unusual Histories podcast is all about the history you don't learn at school, nor indeed anywhere else.
Discover things that you didn't know that you didn't know; fascinating historical luminaries and their vices and addictions, the other numerous sides of every story...
We start with the Monopoly Series, in which we explore how the game came to be, the real-life connection between the cheapest and most expensive properties, the history of each location, how proportionate the values were then and are today, what the hell a "community chest" is and whether free parking really does exist anywhere in London.
If you love history; or indeed if you hate history, this is the podcast for you…
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