Latitude review: Tommy Tiernan

Given that Tommy Tiernan’s set largely concerns his home country of Ireland, its people and its mythologically-steeped history, he seems to have an almost cult following, that perhaps surprisingly have found their way here to a field in Suffolk.

Tiernan goes down a storm, with his brash, base observations; he even earns himself a standing ovation.

It’s easy to see his appeal; he’s more a force of nature than a comic, and this is something closer to a sermon than a routine, albeit a crude one.

Immediately launching into a bit about how the Irish came to be such a nation of swearers, he goes on to lampoon the tongues of other nations, branding the Scandinavians depressed, and approximating a meeting of African tribesmen and their Dutch conquerors.

Technically, it’s a fine impression, though in truth, it feels dated, and perhaps a little near the knuckle.

The images he paints of the Irish are of wild, rough and romantic creatures, kicking against the European system that has brought us nothing but “traffic lights and shopping centres”.

Tiernan speaks of his homeland with passion, with abrasive, but affectionate pride in the backwards behaviour he recants them displaying.

It’s a colourful set, artful in its delivery, and – with his club-comic-esque bits on parenthood, body image, and the sexual downfalls of aging – accessible.

Tiernan is attention-grabbing, of that there’s no doubt, spinning misty-eyed tales of an impish Irish nation with rakish, devil-may-care glee.

For those on whom the wistful, over-aching national nostalgia is a little lost, Tiernan may offer little to take away, but at Latitude Festival today, Tiernan is king.

Date of live review: Saturday 19 July 2014 @ Henham Park, Suffolk.