Nob Nation
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Nob Nation is the title of a series of topical comedy pieces broadcast Monday to Saturday every week on Ireland's two biggest radio stations, RTÉ 2FM and RTÉ Radio 1 since November 2006. The series features almost 100 characters based on people from Irish and international public life involved in politics, sport and entertainment. All character acting and singing is done by comedian Oliver Callan, dubbed by the Sunday World as 'The Monaghan Mimic'.
The sketches are first broadcast after the 10am news on The Gerry Ryan Show on 2FM which has more than 344,000 listeners daily and is ranked number one in the national radio listenership category of 20-44 year olds. Nob Nation is then repeated at night on Damien Farrelly's The Frequency on 2FM. The best comedy sketch of the week is featured on Playback on Radio One on Saturday mornings and on The Saturday Show on 2FM on Saturday afternoons. It has also featured on Ireland's number one radio show Morning Ireland and on RTÉ One television's Tubridy Tonight show.
Nob Nation was reported in The Sunday Independent on January 20, 2008 as being Ireland's most popular podcast in 2007 with figures showing over 737,000 downloads on www.rte.ie between April and December 2007. The country's biggest radio show, Morning Ireland, was second with 730,000 podcast downloads.
The title of the comedy sketches is based on the intimation that the characters sent-up in the sketch are 'Nobs' or 'eejits' ("idiots"), or that Ireland is a nation of eejits. However, it also has a naughty side since presenter Gerry Ryan adopted the catchphrase "Get your knobs[1] out for Ireland" when introducing the pieces.
Brian Cowen, or BIFFO, Ireland's Taoiseach, is the main star of Nob Nation, alongside his chief rival Enda Kenny, the leader of opposition party Fine Gael. BIFFO is portrayed as the ultimate culchie who loves GAA, stout and singsongs. He also has five brains and is even more intelligent than the previous Mensa champion of Nob Nation, Kevin Myarse. In May 2008 he successfully took over from former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern who was the previous star of the Nobs, although he hasn't gone away you know and has already showed up as a football pundit with Eamon Dunphy and Gilesy. BIFFO teases, insults and laughs at Kenny, whom he famously said 'is neither qualified nor capable'. Kenny for his part is portrayed as a class swot who answers back the Taoiseach and is obsessed with his hair, image and drinks 'tins of Lilt'.
The Dáil is portrayed in the series as a loud and boisterous classroom where the TDs attack and jeer each other, creating mayhem and discussing everything from cartoons to quizzes instead of issues of national importance. One of the most memorable sketches of 2007 was 'Hey There Celia', a send up of Bertie Ahern's appearance at the Mahon Planning Tribunal after evidence was given by his former girlfriend, Celia Larkin. The sketch was a song to the tune of 'Hey There Delilah' by the US band The Plain White Tees.
During celebrations to mark The Gerry Ryan Show's 20th anniversary in March 2008, the real former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told Gerry that he really enjoys Nob Nation and tries to listen to it as much as possible when he's in his State car.
Senator David Norris, a gay rights campaigner in Ireland, is also a very popular star of Nob Nation and is portrayed as a gay superhero, claiming that 'gay is the way'. In the past he has been fixated with Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard and Cork All-Star hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín. Senator Norris is said to enjoy the sketches enormously and even phoned in to the Mooney Show and went live on the air to testify to his affection for it.
Nob Nation has also been notable for its satirical take on RTÉ itself, even lampooning the 'Mooney Goes Wild' programme, presented by Derek Mooney, which often also broadcasts the sketches. RTÉ's Liveline programme is also a regular feature of the comedy series, in which presenter Joe Duffy is besieged by many of the sketches' stars discussing the main issues of the moment. Pat Kenny, Dave Fanning, Marian Finucane, Gay Byrne and Gerry Ryan himself are also among the 'victims' of the series. The Joe Duffy Nob Nation character featured on radio adverts in early 2008 promoting a mobile phone appeal for the Jack and Jill Foundation, a charity organisation for sick children and their families in Ireland.
A number of Hollywood actors occasionally pop up on the show, most notably Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Daniel Day Lewis and Clint Eastwood. At one stage, some of the Hollywood Nobs remade the vintage Irish soap drama Glenroe as a blockbuster movie.
The sketches have caused controversy inside and outside RTÉ since its inception. In January 2007, a number of Sunday newspapers reported that popular presenters Dave Fanning and Derek Mooney had fallen out over who would get to broadcast the series on Radio One. Both men later denied the argument had arisen. Then, in the same month, one sketch was axed by RTÉ station bosses because it contained the word 'willy', a move which prompted much mirth and derision in the national press. In February, listeners to Mooney phoned the show to complain after it appeared that stand-in presenter Aonghus MacAnally appeared to angrily cut-off Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. However, MacAnally had to apologise to angry callers, revealing that 'Mr Adams' was in fact mimic Oliver Callan. Callan himself has also courted controversy over claims he made about rival station Today FM. Having previously worked on rival sketch show Gift Grub, Callan claimed in an interview that he preferred working in 2FM than Today FM, as relations were strained between two big-name DJs. Although he didn't name them, it was generally assumed he was referring to Ian Dempsey and Ray D'Arcy. Both strongly denied his claims.
Callan is from Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan and is habitually referred to in the press as 'The Monaghan Mimic', a phrase coined by the Sunday World newspaper.
In January 2007, he was named by the Village magazine as one of its 'People of the Year 2007', a list which included Gordon Brown and Enda Kenny. The magazine wrote of Callan:
"It’s been a heady few months, which culminated in the Gingerman pub in Dublin recently when Callan got to put his pitch-perfect Enda Kenny impersonation to the ultimate test – the man himself. Kenny was gracious, but preferred Callan’s Bertie Ahern. Which is appropriate, because a couple of weeks previously, Callan had been in Fagan’s in Drumcondra and got to do his Bertie Ahern for Bertie Ahern. Bertie and his mates enjoyed it – but they preferred his Enda."
In December 2007, Mr Ahern invited Callan to perform at the Fianna Fail annual Cairde Fail party at Citywest in Dublin, which is attended by over 2,000 of the party faithful every year. In his introduction, the Taoiseach described himself as a fan of Nob Nation and said Callan was 'Ireland's greatest mimic since the late Dermot Morgan'.
Around the same time, Callan, it was reported in the Irish Mail on Sunday, caused controversy in RTE by drinking a glass of whiskey during the live Tubridy Tonight show on RTE One, in breach of strict programming protocol in RTE. He reappeared on the same programme in May 2008, drinking a pint of Bass, but this time in the guise of Bertie Ahern singing 'Friends in Fagans' to the tune of Garth Brooks 'Friends in Low Places' to mark the retirement of the then Taoiseach.
Nob Nation's first compilation album debuted at #5 on the Irish Artists Album chart ahead of Britney Spears and Bruce Springsteen on November 9th, 2007, according to IRMA, the official chart tracking body in Ireland.
