Culture That Made Me: Conor Sketches on Del Boy, Second Captains, and favourite impressionists
Conor Moore, aka Conor Sketches, is on tour at the moment, including an appearance at Cork Opera House.
Conor Moore, 34, grew up in Mullingar, Co Westmeath. He is known by his stage name Conor Sketches. Since 2018, he has won worldwide fame for his impressions of sporting figures, in particular stars from the worlds of golf, GAA and soccer. He will perform his live sketch show at Cork Opera House, Thursday, 16 February. See: www.corkoperahouse.ie.
I love Only Fools and Horses. Even at Christmas, for me and the brothers, the default station is UKTV Gold and Only Fools and Horses. You've every type of character in it. You have Del Boy, what more can you say? You have Trigger the thick fella; Rodney, the thick younger brother; Boycie, the Machiavellian; the granddad. It has had a massive influence on my writing. When I’m writing for, say, “Ian Poulter”, I see Del Boy coming out in him sometimes – that deluded “This time next year I’m gonna win all the majors.” Dustin Johnson is a bit like Trigger. It’s so hilarious.
I also loved Father Ted growing up. I got more of an appreciation for it as I got older and into comedy. You think it's really simple when you're just watching it, then when you get into comedy and writing scripts, you realise it’s genius. You could be all day and you wouldn't come with it. Every episode is a classic. I love how they established Dougal as a character in the first episode. He comes in with shaving cream and he sits down with Ted and you're wondering what’s this lad about. Then Ted takes out the board and he says, “What did I tell you, Dougal?” On the board, it’s dreams and reality. It sets up Dougal for the entire series: “Alright, that’s Dougal. He’s a dope.” And obviously Ardal O’Hanlon plays him so well.
The Simpsons is another great show. I remember my dad watching it. When my father laughed really hard at it because it’s a cartoon you’re thinking this must be really funny. I've often poetically licensed a few jokes from The Simpsons for a few sketches. In one episode Homer went to Mr Burns looking for a raise. He said, “Sure, we’ve no money.” The place was falling apart, then the ceiling caved in with money. I remember using that for Bernard Brogan, who went to the Dublin county board, looking for money for the Dubs Gaelic football team, and they said they’d no money and then the roof caved in with a few quid.
Risteárd Cooper is more of an actor than he is an impressionist, but he’s my favourite, and the best impressionist around. He combines everything – humour, his acting, his mannerisms. He's the full package. He doesn't have to say much to make me laugh. Even looking at him, I just laugh. He's obviously a very gifted actor. I’m a huge Après Match fan.
Believe it or not, I'm not a huge comedy guy. I don't sit down and watch comedy. When I was in America, I didn't go to many comedy clubs. But I remember growing up, one of the lads told me about Tommy Tiernan. I got one of his DVDs. I came from school every day, stuck it on, and it made me laugh. It didn’t matter that I obviously knew the joke was coming, it just made me laugh. I’m a big admirer of how his brain works, how he thinks, how he describes stuff. It's so thought-out. I'm always like, “How did he think of that?” He’s brilliant.
I love sports autobiographies. I loved Anthony Daly’s book, Dalo. Dalo’s energy just comes off the page. It's like an audiobook for me. I can hear his voice: “Ah, Jaysus…” He’s a brilliant man. For me, he embodies Gaelic culture. He's the fabric of hurling, and its passion.
I read a book recently called Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson. It's crazy how tactics evolved in football from 1860, all the way up until now; how coaches kept changing tactics up. It’s a brilliant read, just in helping you to understand football more – the different positions players take up and stuff. I wish I read it 15 years ago, whenever it came out. It has made me think about the game a bit differently. It was such an eye-opener. I ended up enjoying the World Cup so much more, looking at the television, going, “Why is he standing there now?”
One of the earliest documentaries I loved was When We Were Kings. It’s about Muhammad Ali’s fight against George Foreman in Zaire. Ali is so inspirational, fighting against the bigger fella. The big guy is supposed to take him out. I would have always been small growing up. I still am! I love the underdog story, and the belief that he had in himself, and the story around it and how they put it together was absolutely top class.
I love Formula One racing documentaries. I really liked Crash and Burn. It’s the story of Tommy Byrne, the Irish racing driver. In the 1980s, he was touted to be up there with Ayrton Senna. It’s an incredible story, which I knew nothing about. I was amazed by it. In Formula One, it massively helps being from money, and having backing. This guy obviously was a maverick, and he didn’t have a pot to piss in. He was pretty wild and he enjoyed himself. He was described as “the Alex Higgins of F1”. It didn't happen for him, but it’s a great story.
For soccer, I really love listening to the Second Captains podcast. I was a bit late to the party there. I've only really got on that train the last year and a half. The dynamic between the lads is absolutely brilliant. It’s very enjoyable. Even when they’re describing matches, it’s like you're reading it from the newspaper or a book. It's a brilliant podcast, the chemistry they have.
When I'm tuning out in the evening I like listening to Eamon Dunphy on The Stand. He has good guests on. Dunphy is such a smart individual, but he simplifies everything. He is so good at bringing the news to everybody, to the ordinary person. Sometimes you could be listening to podcasts from the UK or from America and you wouldn’t know what the guys are on about. I really enjoy his podcast. You have a better understanding of things after listening to it.
