Athlone comedian talks stand-up as career enters third decade

With an appearance at the annual Paddy Power Comedy Festival in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on the horizon, Athlone comedian Eleanor Tiernan enters the third decade of her career with a desire to remain a prominent presence within the stand-up realm.

The Hill of Berries native will act as MC and perform a stand-up set at the renowned festival in Dublin from July 24-27 and, in advance of her appearance, reflected upon her journey to date, one which started in 2004.

"Growing up in the 1980s/90s in Athlone they never appeared to be an arts vibe one which I was continuously seeking as an outlet in my teenage years. I do recall taking ballet classes in the Jolly Mariner as a child but when they ended there seemed to be no outlet for my creativity," Eleanor said.

Working as a civil engineer in Dublin, the former Summerhill College student was exposed to a wealth of creative opportunities in the capital city and with a desire to sample life as a stand-up comedian she closed the door on one profession and "made the leap" into a new career.

"Maybe I took the leap too quickly, but in hindsight it has worked out well," Eleanor, who is a first cousin of Tommy Tiernan, said.

With many of her generation changing jobs on a regular basis and having the opportunity to do so, Eleanor has paved her way in a challenging comedy environment in which there is "great and not so great times".

"I have been doing this gig for 20 years now, but the bills still need to be paid. There have been some great years but it is the type of job where emotions can be up and down," Eleanor said.

Having performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on nine occasions, Eleanor said the experience allowed her to get "miles under her belt" on her stand-up journey.

"Performing at such a festival builds up your stage time as a comedian and allows you to become a more resilient performer," Eleanor said.

Her 2007 show 'Help', a comedy drama about a struggling comedian, received positive reviews during its Edinburgh Festival Fringe run and allowed the comedian to become more confident in her surroundings.

Subsequent shows which featured at the festival were all well received as Eleanor continued to build on her comedy repertoire with content relevant to the times.

Her most recent offering, 'At An Awkward Age', played in Liberty Hall Dublin in February, with the comedian spending a full year preparing content for the show.

The performance touched on Eleanor's personal life experiences and played to a sold-out theatre to much acclaim.

"With all stand-up routines it is a case of piecing the content incrementally and then performing it in shorter slots. In that way you will come to know the flow of your performance in an order which makes sense to the audience," Eleanor said.

Performing segments of a show to a select audience allows for feedback which Eleanor stated, "ultimately determines" the completed content of your stand-up routine.

"Audience feedback will essentially determine what works best in your stand-up routine. You have to read the room at all times," Eleanor said.

Composing a stand-up routine takes time to perfect but how does Eleanor manage to retain the content for a performance which usually runs for over an hour?

"I just like to stay connected with my audience during a performance. I find the stand-up experience similar to meditation. I don't want to think about the process too much, but thankfully muscle memory helps," Eleanor added.

Now firmly established as a stand-up comedian, Eleanor has also embraced the acting medium and was an integral player in the satirical television series 'Irish Pictorial Weekly' for which she wrote and performed sketches during the show's three-series run.

The show featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, cartoons and spoof television formats.

"Acting can be a difficult medium in which to perform. I would have a lot of self doubt when acting whereas with stand up comedy it is always immediate and live, which for me is a more comfortable setting," Eleanor said-

However, Eleanor described her time working on 'Irish Pictorial Weekly' as the "best experience I have had on television".

"Barry Murphy was the creative force behind the series and he asked me to become involved. Being in a position to write content on the state of the country at the time and work with such a cast of comedians was such a meaningful and rewarding experience," Eleanor stated.

Additional television credits include The Panel, The Savage Eye and Republic of Telly (RTÉ), while Eleanor also played the role of Susan Hickey in Virgin Media's four-part adaptation of Graham Norton's 'Holding' novel.

With a 20-minute stand-up routine scheduled for the Iveagh Gardens on Friday, July 25, (Eleanor will also MC a live show on Thursday, July 24), the comedian acknowledged the importance of "staying content-relevant" with audience members now "getting so young".

Citing US stand-up comedian Katt Williams and Irish comic Shane Clifford as artists from whom she draws inspiration, Eleanor is looking forward to building on her stand-up success to date.

Fest Mag, a publication which is the largest magazine covering the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, has described Eleanor's comedy style as "deceptively sharp" filled with her "trademark acerbic wit".

Such traits, which Eleanor has honed into her craft this past two decades, are certain to ensure that the London-based comedian remains to the stand-up circuit fore into the future.