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INTERVIEW ENOUGH PEOPLE and eventually you’ll have a few encounters that go slightly off-the-rails.
Ryan Tubridy’s been talking to people on television since 2004, when his Saturday night chat show debuted.
And while few of his interviews have registered a 10.0 on the awkward scale in the same way as that infamous exchange between Michael Parkinson and Meg Ryan, or Terry Wogan’s hair-raising clash with a mono-syllabic Anne Bancroft - the Late Late host has had some, as he puts it, ‘slightly odd’ experiences in the interviewer’s chair recently.
Remember that recent Late Late appearance by Ryan O’Neal?
The veteran Hollywood actor was in (to say the least) an odd mood – speaking in-depth about family issues and at one point calling his daughter Tatum “the devil”.
Then there was his radio chat with Patrick Guinness earlier this week, when the Guinness heir spoke about filling the family home with Syrian refugees “preferably female aged between 20 and 30″.
How do you deal with an awkward guest?
Tubridy dropped by TheJournal.ie‘s offices this week. Amongst the topics for discussion – what happens when an interview goes ever-so-slightly wrong?
“Ryan O’Neal spoke about his daughter in a way that I don’t think any man should speak about his daughter and it was a little uncomfortable to say the least,” the Late Late host said.
“Much like the interview on the radio this week with Patrick Guinness – I wasn’t sure whether this guy of a certain vintage was being droll and funny in his world or whether he was being passive-aggressive. I didn’t know quite where he was going with that.”
The interviews may have been about completely different issues, but both were similarly awkward.
Says Tubridy:
“They had similar sort-of peculiar senses of humour if you like.”
Is this live?
Straight after the Ryan O’Neal interview, Russell Crowe saved the day to some degree, diffusing tension in the studio by asking “How f*cked up was that?”.
But then that encounter got a little (in Tubridy’s words) “What the…?”.
The Gladiator star eventually agreed to sing a song, but spent an age fidgeting with the microphone and warming up, as the host tried to fill the silence with off-the-cuff jokes.
Turns out, Crowe (who has a reputation for being obstreperous) thought the show was pre-recorded.
He was used to US and UK shows which are almost always pre-taped – and no-one had told him otherwise when he arrived at Montrose…
On the other side of the mic
There was also the “slightly odd” recent exchange between Tubridy and Brendan O’Connor, as the former Saturday Night Show host finished up in his summer fill-in slot on Radio 1.
The Late Late presenter was on the show to talk about his move to the station from 2fm – but as he attempted to thank his production team, he was swiftly cut-off by O’Connor who told him he was being a bit “wanky” (cue strange-looking TheJournal.ie headlines).
Tubs (diplomatically) puts it down to him not quite ‘getting’ Brendan’s sense of humour:
Note: There’ll be more from our Tubridy interview in the next few days.
(All videos: Nicky Ryan)
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I’m delighted to say I’ve never watched his show.
Am I lucky or what?
I find all his interviews odd.
Tubridy giving awkward interviews Is his own doing
Making interviews not awkward is a skill that takes years to develop, and I’m afraid Tubridy has never mastered it. And it’s a reason Graham Norton is a genius at what he does. That’s why the Late Late Show needs to be taken over by a comedian – somebody with the quick wit to defuse potentially awkward moments with a funny comment.
Graham Norton is not a skilled interviewer.
He just sits back, throws formulaic tidbits of gossip at his guests and hopes they respond with funny quips.
The great hosts interview one on one.
You can’t have a profound personal discussion with someone when there’s a boy band jumping around on the other end of the couch.
“profound personal discussion”? Seriously?
When I hear the word Turbidity, I switch channels
Yet you read articles about him.
He’s a nob on huge money. Paid by you if you like it or not. Something wrong there.
Tubridy is one lucky fella, he was rokled ito the best paid job in Ireland especially when you consider what he does for it, chat …… sure yid get someone do that on Jobsbridge and they’d probabky be better. Oh yeah and hel’ll be there for life no natter how shit he is cos its another jobs for the boys camp. No wonder he had a serious problem with Paul Murphy, he’s terrified the Irishtaxpayers/ license fee might wake up and rralise where all the money goes.
How do you the article was read, comments are a chance to express an opinion on an over paid under worked poor presenter!
Is Tubs shagging someone at the Journal?
Coz he’s sure getting a lot of free publicity for a second rate talk show host who 99% of the population think is crap at his job.
They used to use a quote from him saying the Journal.ie was great. Think it was in the app store or something like that. Personally, that would be a kiss of death for me. And when you consider the doing off he gets on here, I had to wonder if, as you say, he was shagging someone at the journal too.
If there was a gun to my head and I had to watch either Tubs or D’Arcy !
I would hope the gun was loaded
So many experts on here. Not crazy about Turbridy but don’t understood the blanket dismissal of his interview performance. Was the same with Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny etc. Yet, if they re on BBC, for some reason they are lauded as consummate pro’s.
Seems like you’re never a prophet in your own land here.
Are you being serious, Graham Norton or Terry Wogan are in different leagues altogether. None of the people you mentioned would hold a top job anywhere outside of Ireland. We’re left with those that can’t make the big league, tubs still tries every summer but no joy.
Gay Byrne was top of his game in fairness and had the work ethic to back it up. I can’t imagine he had “researchers” to come up with interview questions like Tubs does, he did his own home work and knew exactly how to guide an interview.
Pat Kenny is good at doing political stuff, Gay Byrne was and is highly regarded but Tubs is very average c’mon. I get nervous for him when he is interviewing a big celeb, its torture, have to turn him off.
He was OK interviewing Nigel Farage last night but then Nigel is an interviewers dream as he has such a grasp of how the EU has destroyed our freedoms.
Don’t watch the Late Late normally. Tuned in to watch the Outsider’s art segment last night and saw that Farage interview . He was actually likeable. I was expecting a monster from the bits I hear from British TV but I actually liked what he had to say! That interview didn’t get awkward because Farage was so animated and he doesn’t depend on the interviewer to prop it/him up.
which I may add Tubridy is no good at. I like him on radio.
I only tuned in to see Farage but enjoyed seeing Gareth Thomas but other than being happy for the artists and their achievements I am not a artyfarty chap :-)
Tubs is Eoin McLove off Father Ted.
brilliant!
What, Tubridy has no willy???
The man acts like a knob. Exactly zero skills displayed other than the toy show. Have you seen when Richard Dawkins was on. Cringe worthy display of ignorance from tubridy.
Why is Tubridy being mentioned every day now? Mate of yours, Daragh?
Well said James, Norton is a class apart.
I’d love to see interviews here on the journal itself which cut out the middleman. Take Nigel Farage and Gareth Thomas from last night for example, I bet they would make wonderful interviewees in the hands of the journal staff.
If I don’t like watching someone guess what? I don’t watch, I love tubs he’s a decent human being with manners and intelligence, you don’t have to display comedy or over the top flapping around to interview someone. It’s a chat show not a circus.
And if I don’t like watching something I don’t pay to see it…. Oh wait…
I wonder how he can explain his aggressive right wing tactical interview with Paul Murphy? Your a gob….e Mr Turbidy.
Why did RTE order Tubs to visit the journal It was hardly his idea.
ah Ryan O’Neal – “IT WAS IN, I’M TELLING YOU, IT WAS IN!!!!”
LOL
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