Bernard’s comedy is absolute Kerry gold

BERNARD Casey might be a name you haven’t heard of yet but rest assured it won’t be long. The Kerry primary school teacher managed to sell out two nights at the INEC before Christmas and is now on his way to Vicar Street via the rest of the country.

So the days of him being a struggling stand up are well and truly over and he has been relatively blessed in being able to pack in most of those day jobs, apart from the one he likes.

‘I have had so many day jobs in different things but comedy has always been there,’ says the man from Portmagee.

‘I am a qualified primary teacher and I do drama workshops with secondary schools to keep me tipping over but it all ties in with stand up.’

In fact he used his acting skills to land him a few jobs that he was less than qualified for while honing his craft in the comedy clubs of Dublin.

‘I had a lot of other failed jobs where I bulls ***** d my way in and after six months they went “hang on a minute.” I was just looking for a few bob so I could go gigging.

‘I worked in a shop, I worked in a call centre for Aer Lingus and there was one time I will never forget.

‘ I was working in a place on the Long Mile Road in Dublin and I got a six month contract.

‘After that they called me into the office and I think they weren’t going to renew the contract but I was leaving anyway. They asked me if I had any sales experience and I said no straight out.

‘Then they asked me “How did you get this job? There were a few other people in for it” and I told them I was an actor so I researched the job and trained myself up for it.’

He insists they all had a good laugh about it while the company was showing Bernard the door. And of course, it’s a testament to his superb acting skills that might never have been noticed, had he not created his own YouTube channel.

But thanks in part to his hilarious online sketches and, of course, his serious talent at taking a look at Irish life, things are looking more than up.

‘I have been doing stand up since 2011 and I didn’t start doing videos until 2013,’ he says.

‘Stand up is my main game and Up to the teeth: Bernard Casey is becoming a huge hit it was solid enough, I was going okay with it. But the internet has brought me to new levels that I would never be at without it.’

He credits his family with inspiring him to go out and be a comedian as they’re a funny bunch — his mam is hilarious and he has a brother who is great at doing voices too.

‘I like doing voices and I like making people laugh so I was always doing that kind of thing anyway,’ Bernard says.

‘And I am a TV addict as well — The Fast Show and Harry Enfield and all that stuff. I loved the fact that there were people acting in it having mad ideas and seeing if they could make them into comedy.’

Now the mad ideas are all coming from Bernard who can turn the most ordinary person in the street into a laugh-out-loud character.

His comedy is typically Irish in essence but will no doubt travel the world as it certainly hits its mark without being snide or nasty. As an entertainer Bernard manages to bring people to tears of laughter with the most simple props like those ridiculous fake teeth. And the beauty of his comedy is in the everyday.

‘There are things I pick up from home, the people who don’t think they are funny but everyone else thinks they are.’ he says. ‘I realised the reason for that is it’s not what they say it’s the way they have it and the rhythm of their speech so that’s what I hone in on.’

Bernard Casey plays the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen tonight and tomorrow night followed by Vicar Street on February 29 and the Royal Theatre Castlebar on March 14.