Rory's Stories: ‘Emma went off in the ambulance, I was left with three kids and one had Covid’

Online comedian Rory O'Connor has published a book, Rory’s Stories Lockdown Lookback, in which he casts an amused eye over the quirky and surreal moments that were bound up the Irish Covid experience.

Rory's Stories: "Everyone was sitting at home on their phones. My following went up about 30 per cent in a couple of years. I’d say I gained about 300,000 followers."

Nobody had an easy lockdown but Rory O’Connor’s was especially tough. The comedian, who has amassed a huge internet following with his Rory’s Stories sketches, watched his live performance income dry up as the world shut down. And then his wife, Emma, caught Covid and had to be rushed to hospital. Over Zoom from his home in Ashbourne, County Meath he pauses for a moment. It was a challenging time.

“My wife ended up in hospital with Covid in March 2021 for eight days. So that was obviously scary,” he says. “She’s in her mid-30s, full of her health. Covid was such a funny thing. Some people wouldn’t even have a head cold. Others were brown bread. Even in the same household, two or three people could get it – another two mightn’t . That was tough. Our youngest child, she was only three or four months – she got it at as well. When Emma went off in the ambulance, I was left with the three kids and one of them had Covid. I couldn’t get any help because of the risk of spreading it. I’m sure people can relate to that, because they had tough times as well.”

It isn’t in O’Connor’s nature to dwell on the negative. And rather than sink into a funk he has tried to see the positives in the past two years. To that end, he has published a book, Rory’s Stories Lockdown Lookback, in which he casts an amused eye over the quirky and surreal moments that were bound up the Irish Covid experience. This isn’t to hand wave away the grim reality of the pandemic so much as to remember that in dark times it’s our ability to see the positive that keep us going.

“I’m not sure every country did the ridiculous rules and carry-on that we came up with it,” he says – referring to peculiarities such as the insistence that pub customers eat a “substantial meal” when ordering drinks. “Only when reading it do you think, ‘oh my god, I can’t believe that’. The funny thing about human beings is that we forget very quickly. When you read this book, you are reminded of how crazy the times were. You couldn’t go near anyone. You washed your hands until the skin fell off. The timing is good. We’re enough past the worrying times of it that people can get a giggle.”

As a professional comedian, the pandemic brought mixed blessing. As pointed out, his revenue from touring dried up. However, his online following grew enormously as people turned to the internet for some light relief.

“Everyone was sitting at home on their phones. My following went up about 30 per cent in a couple of years. I’d say I gained about 300,000 followers. You can moan about no live shows. I said, control the controllable – everyone is on their phone. I made a ridiculous amount of videos. Some of them weren’t that funny. They were more related to scenarios that people could watch and feel better about themselves. Then I had a vision of, ‘when this does die off, do a tour and it will go well’. I’m three quarters of the way through a tour and it’s going very well. Lots of sold-out shows. It worked out, thank God.”

"I do a lot of talks to companies and schools about self-doubt. Because I’ve struggled myself with self-doubt. And still do, to be honest with you."

Ten years ago, O’Connor was working in a call centre. Bored, he began to post to social media comedy sketches that drew on everyday facets of Irish life: the GAA, the trials of being a deli worker, rows after a wedding etc. This struck a chord with the public. And by 2016 his popularity was at the point that he let he could go into comedy full time.

He is part of a wider phenomenon in Irish comedy. The 2 Johnnies have become Ireland’s most popular duo thanks to their similarly broad humour rooted in small town Irish life. The snobs can sniff – but there is a market for what they do.

“A lot of relatable comedians seem to be doing well,” says O’Connor. “The two lads seem to be flying it. They’ve connected with a niche. And Joanne McNally as well. The reason Joanne McNally is so popular is because she connects with a hell of a lot of women. I feel Joanne has put in so much time in the last number of years. A lot of people say, ‘oh, she only blew up because of the podcast with Vogue Williams’. I think Joanne has earned where she is. I think she’s a grafter. She has put in the work. Yes, the podcast has helped. She was ready to explore anyway. I have nothing but respect for her.”

But because O’Connor’s medium is the internet he gets to know in real time exactly what people think of his material. And for all the positives, there is inevitably the occasional negative comment too.

“I do a lot of talks to companies and schools about self-doubt. Because I’ve struggled myself with self-doubt. And still do, to be honest with you. I felt in my gut this was the right thing to do for me. In 2016 I left my full-time job and went Rory’s Stories. I didn’t have too much of a plan. I don’t think anyone does. You have to trust every day as it comes. That was six years ago now. Touch wood, I don’t think I’ll be going back to my call centre job any time soon.”

Rory O'Connor: "Comedy is subjective. My comedy is very much observational. It’s very simple – very easy to understand the jokes. You know something, it works."

He doesn’t pretend to be the second coming of Monty Python or Bill Hicks. His humour is straightforward – which he feels Irish people generally appreciate.

“Comedy is subjective. My comedy is very much observational. It’s very simple – very easy to understand the jokes. You know something, it works. The following proves that. Over a million people online are following Rory’s Stories. Not speaking for everyone but Irish people seem to enjoy simple humour. You go back to Father Ted, it was just simple. I often quote Mr Bean – Mr Bean is as simple as you get. But it’s genius. I’m not comparing myself to them. It just seems to work. That’s why the Covid videos were so popular. I was saying, ‘we’re all in the same boat’. I stick to that. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The thing is, you can’t please everyone. Just forget about the people that don’t enjoy what you do. You’re not going to change their opinion. Concentrate on the people who enjoy what you do and give them what they want. That’s the way I look at it.”

He’s at a point where he feels the the attacks wash over him. It wasn’t always easy. Initially he found it difficult: those angry voices on the internet got inside his head.

“It’s not nice. Early on, I had this thing of going to the critics: ‘okay then, you try and make people laugh’. What I came to understand is that it’s their issue not yours. If you feel the need to put something negative online towards something that you don’t find particularly good, that says something about you rather than the person. There is obviously something deep within you that you’re not happy about. And you want to spread negativity. I nearly feel more sorry for them, if that makes sense.

Online criticism, he says, is the price of popularity.

“It [the vitriol] is alive and well. I just put my name into Google and find abuse. It’s up to you: either you let it get to you and let it dictate to you… It can be difficult. When you’re not having a good day and you read something it can be hard… we’re all human. I don’t respond to any of them. Because that’s what they want. If you don’t like it fair enough – I’m not going to stop just because of your opinion.”

• Rory’s Stories Lockdown Lookback is out now.