Dara Ó Briain, comedian and television presenter

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dara Ó Briain has toured the world as a stand-up comedian, and hosted the BBC’s satirical series Mock the Week for 17 years. A science graduate with a love of astronomy, he co-presented the BBC series Stargazing Live with Professor Brian Cox, and is a regular guest on television quizzes and panel shows. Dara grew up in Bray, County Wicklow and attended Irish language schools, playing for the Gaelic football and hurling teams. He studied mathematical physics at University College Dublin where he took part in debating competitions and discovered a flair for getting laughs from an audience. In 2001 he moved to the UK and, alongside performing at comedy gigs, he started appearing on television shows including Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You. His love of mathematics came to the fore when he presented the game show School of Hard Sums and he has gone on to write popular science books for children. Dara continues to perform stand-up and, when he’s not touring what he calls his conversational and whimsical style of comedy, he lives in London with his wife and three children. DISC ONE: Kiss - Prince & The Revolution DISC TWO: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626: No 1, Introitus and Kyrie - Requiem and Kyrie. Composed by Mozart and performed by London Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony chorus, conducted by Sir Colin Davis DISC THREE: Glanfaidh Mé - Kíla DISC FOUR: Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite DISC FIVE: Cuba Libre - Gloria Estefan DISC SIX: All About My Girl - Jimmy McGriff DISC SEVEN: Piazza, New York Catcher - Belle and Sebastian DISC EIGHT: Adagio for Strings. Composed by Samuel Barber and performed by Berliner Symphoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle BOOK CHOICE: The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman LUXURY ITEM: Astrophotography equipment CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.9	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.5	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:21.2	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:30.7	Music Radio Music
0:45.2	My cast away this week is the comedian, television presenter and writer, Dara O'Brien.
0:50.4	He's known for his razor shop stand-up comedy and the hugely popular panel show Mock the Week,
0:55.3	which he hosted for 17 years. He has also shared his passion for science and astronomy
1:00.9	on programmes including Stargazing Life with Brian Cox. He grew up in Bray,
1:06.2	County, Wicklow on the East Coast of Ireland, where he was a shy,
1:09.9	maths loving boy, a nerd as he puts it. After studying physics at university, he became a
1:15.2	children's television presenter, but the thrill of performing live lured him to London,
1:19.6	where he earned his comedic stripes on the stand-up circuit.
1:23.2	At heart, he's a storyteller and his own life has proved fertile ground for material,
1:28.4	including the discovery of a family he didn't know he had. He says,
1:32.2	it's the prospect of failure that lights the creator fire. The cold, unamused stare of the audience
1:37.6	is a great motivator. Well, never fear, Dara. We can't see the whites of their eyes today.
1:41.8	Dara O'Brien, welcome to Dara's Andisks. It's a pleasure to be here.
1:45.6	So, Dara, I think that idea about the fear of failure is, you know, shared between comics and
1:51.4	scientists alike as a motivator. Beyond that, though, what do those two disciplines have in common,
	...

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