Lyndsy Hatfield is a student at The College of St. Rose and an ISA Featured Blogger. Lyndsy is currently studying abroad with ISA in Galway, Ireland.
By the time Wednesday rolls around, I’m usually content to sleep in until noon, and enjoy my God-given right to “sloth” about on my mid-week day off. Yes, I know I truly have a wonderful schedule. However, today was a spectacular Wednesday because today meant that I would be voluntarily getting up early to see Tommy Tiernan at The King’s Head down on Shop Street.
For those of you that are unaware, Tommy Tiernan is an Irish comedian. I highly recommend searching him on YouTube or on Netflix. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Anyhow, I don’t remember when, but I saw a flyer in the King’s Head a couple of weeks back advertising that Tommy was going to be upstairs in the Ruby Room, for only 10 euros and at 1:00pm for three Wednesdays in March. I thought to myself, “Tommy Tiernan, in Galway, on a Wednesday, on my day off… I’M THERE!”
I went to bed at a decent hour last night so I could be up and at ’em today. I set my alarm for 10:00am, 11:00am and 11:35am, giving myself ample time to get going, and still bask in the delight of sleeping in. I was up before 11:35am, but I dawdled and was late leaving, at 12:35pm. It takes at least 20 minutes to walk all the way down to Shop St. I made it to the pub just in time, got my ticket and got a good seat halfway from the stage and the back. I was sweating like a pig when I finally sat down because I had to run nearly all the way. I sat and simply appreciated the fact that I was finally in the Ruby Room, about to see The Tommy Tiernan. I was a wee bit excited.
We all waited for about ten minutes, before he came out. The first thing I thought was that he wasn’t nearly as tall I had remembered from all the videos I’d seen. Then he got to talking, and then the crowd got to laughing. Within the first ten minutes, I knew my cheeks were going to hurt as much as Christmas day from all the laughing I was about to do. On Christmas I get together with all of my cousins, and I am always the bud of their jokes, mostly because of my snorting, and yes I did snort before the 40 minutes were through.
Tommy had a way of making everyone laugh, even during his pauses. He used relevant topics, like the windmills in Meath and the International Women’s Day. He even razzed the four college lads sitting in the front row, who each had two pints before them, as well as a bag of Tayto crisps. One of my favorite jokes was when one of the lads in the front, made the mistake of noisily opening his bag of Taytos and Tommy went off on him, ending with, “Taytos or Tommy?!”
His speed at which he could fire forth a joke was miraculous. Not being Irish myself, I was marveling at his ability to speak a sentence like a freight-train travels: at break-neck speed. But we all howled with laughter as each syllable uttered became more confusing than the one before. Tommy would start off one bit, then go off on something else. At one point in the show he said, “This is like Inception, I tell one joke, but I fall back onto something else, and try to climb my way back up to the top.”
The best part of my Wednesday was when I got to introduce myself at the end of the show. I had to wait what seemed like an eternity for some old man to quit gabbing with Tommy. However, I was patient. I shook Tommy’s hand and said “Hi, I’m Lyndsy Hatfield. I’m a huge fan!” Generic, I know, but he said “Hello, Lyndsy.” He even obliged me by standing for a photo with me. I practically skipped down the two flights of stairs, and then marched myself over to my favorite bakery, to get a celebratory rhubarb tartlet. It has been a glorious day, indeed.
