Oliver Callan (born 27 December 1980) is an Irish vocal and performance

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

and

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

known as the creator of '' Callan's Kicks'', '' Nob Nation'' and for frequent appearances on '' The Saturday Night Show''. He rose to fame during the 2000s when his daily ''Nob Nation'' slots aired on

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division and service of Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels across Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, was the first broadcaster in ...

. His ''Callan's Kicks'' creation on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

has been described by ''The Sunday Independent'' as "the best comedy show the national broadcaster has ever produced". ''Nob Nation'' and ''Callan's Kicks'' parody political, social and cultural personalities, with Callan performing as the characters featured on the show. His radio broadcasts have led to the release of regular podcasts, several CDs and appearances on prime-time television programmes such as ''The Saturday Night Show'' on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

. He has also incurred the wrath of several politicians and the Kerry football star Paul Galvin over his impressions. He is well known in Ireland for skewering celebrities and politicians on the radio. His acerbic wit and talent for mimicry have made him a household name, according to the ''Irish Independent''.

Early life

Callan is from Inniskeen in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

. He grew up on a farm and has a degree in journalism from

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

. Callan initially worked as a newsreader on ''

Today FM Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a licen ...

'' where he performed on '' Gift Grub'' as ''

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

'', he later began performing sketches on '' The Gerry Ryan Show'' on ''

RTÉ 2fm RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is an Irish radio station operated by RTÉ. The station specialises in current popular music and chart hits and is the second national radio station in Ireland. History The station commenc ...

''. He wrote and produced almost 900 Nob Nation sketches on his own for the Gerry Ryan Show over three years.

Career

''Nob Nation''

Nob Nation was Callan's first foray into comedy and was a sketch insert on ''The Gerry Ryan Show'' from 2007 until the presenter's death in 2010. ''Nob Nation'' even produced a comedy sketch just days after Gerry Ryan's death in tribute to the broadcaster. ''Nob Nation'' was reported in the '' Sunday Independent'' on 20 January 2008 as being Ireland's most popular

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

of the previous year, with figures showing a total of 736,711 downloads on RTÉ.ie between April and December 2007. Comparatively, RTÉ Radio 1's most popular radio show, ''Morning Ireland'', was second with 730,965 podcast downloads. ''Nob Nation'' was also frequently in the top five of the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

chart. His impersonations of

Eamon Dunphy Eamon Martin Dunphy (born 3 August 1945) is an Irish media personality, journalist, broadcaster, author, sports pundit and former professional footballer. He grew up playing football for several youth teams including Stella Maris. Since retirin ...

and David Norris led to a warning from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BAI) in July 2008. The BAI deemed his impersonations "offensive to homosexuals" and said they "promoted binge drinking". Following some complaints about Callan's portrayal of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen served as a TD for the constituency of Laois–Offaly from 1984 to 2011 and served in several ...

"swaying and snorting in booze-filled sing-songs about his difficulties in office", the popularity of the slot "simply exploded" according to RTÉ, with over 250,000 hits each month and making up almost a third of all downloads from RTÉ.ie. Callan's portrayal of

cross-dresser Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

"Dame Enda" has drawn reactions from

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

and Enda Kenny himself. The first ''Nob Nation'' CD, containing twenty of Callan's sketches, was released in Ireland in November 2007 and went platinum. Those parodied on the compilation include politicians

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...

and

, former

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

manager Steve Staunton, broadcaster

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...

and newsreaders

Bryan Dobson Bryan David Dobson (born 10 February 1960) is an Irish journalist, now retired, a newscaster and presenter who worked for RTÉ. He presented the '' RTÉ News at One'' on RTÉ Radio One, '' RTÉ News: Six One,'' '' RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock'', mo ...

and Colm Murray. The album debuted at number five on the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...

ahead of

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

on 9 November 2007, according to IRMA, the official chart tracking body in Ireland. A second compilation, ''Nob Nation 2: The Recession Album'', was released on 7 November 2008. ''Nob Nation 3'' was released in the ''Irish Daily Mail'' in November 2009. The fourth compilation in the series, ''Nob Nation 4: The Hangover'', was released on 12 December 2010 in the ''Irish News of the World''. In August 2010, a new website www.nobnation.com showcasing comedy videos and purportedly uncensored versions of ''Nob Nation'' podcasts appeared. A number of Sunday newspapers reported that the website featured controversial depictions of Brian Cowen in a bar along with Judge Gargle, a fictional character loosely based on a high-profile Irish judge. Callan once rang

Charlie Bird Charles Brown Bird (9 September 1949 – 11 March 2024) was an Irish journalist and broadcaster. He was Chief News Correspondent with RTÉ News until January 2009. He took up the role of Washington Correspondent, but prematurely returned to hi ...

and, impersonating Enda Kenny, said there was a story about to break about Kenny buying women's underwear. Bird thought it was real.

''Callan's Kicks''/''The Saturday Night Show''

Callan now works on Callan's Kicks, a sketch show on RTÉ Radio One and on RTÉ One television. The radio version of the show has led to controversy over his portrayal of Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins and his aide Kevin McCarthy which led to RTÉ producers ordering Callan to tone down on. The ''Callan's Kicks'' TV spin-off debuted on New Year's Eve 2013. ''Callan Kicks the Year'' proved a hit with viewers on RTÉ One television, and its ratings beat Christmas specials by rivals The Mario Rosenstock Show and Irish Pictorial Weekly. The show once again proved controversial in its portrayal of the President and his aide leading the Sunday World to publish a front-page story on the programme before it aired. ''Callan's Kicks'' debut TV series followed in July 2014 and it too proved to be a ratings success with over 400,000 viewers tuning in each Friday night, beating ''Eastenders'', ''Prime Time'', ''Fair City'' and ''Saturday Night with Miriam''. A second Christmas special on RTÉ One Television followed in December 2014. ''Callan Kicks the Year'' featured Dobbo and other characters parodying events of the year like the

Irish Water ( , Irish: ), formerly and commonly known as Irish Water, is a state-owned water utility company in Ireland. It was created by the Irish Government in 2013 as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis. Water and wastewater services were previously provid ...

, Rehab and Cronyism scandals; President Michael D. Higgins' state visit to the United Kingdom and also debuted new characters, Bono and the Gleesons. In October 2011, Callan was allegedly assaulted by Kerry football star Paul Galvin late at night in Kehoe's Pub, Central Dublin. Among witnesses to the alleged incident were a Government Minister, a TD, a senator and several journalists. One witness alleged Galvin called Callan a "fucking cunt". The incident was investigated by the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

. The media speculated on the reason behind the alleged incident, reporting that Callan had recently mimicked Galvin asking Taoiseach Enda Kenny to man-up by giving him a body-wax on radio.' and that Galvin had texted Callan before an appearance on '' The Saturday Night Show'' in relation to "gay jibes" the satirist had directed at him. It was eventually revealed that Galvin had complained (or not complained at all) to RTÉ after what he described as "the most excruciating night of my life" at home on his sofa between his parents in Kerry watching ''The Saturday Night Show'' when Callan referred to Galvin's "years spent in the closet". Callan impersonated Galvin again on the radio the week after the alleged assault. Callan then appeared on ''The Saturday Night Show'' for an unprecedented second consecutive week to defend himself against accusations of homophobia by

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

on live television.

Live

Callan performed five sell-out nights live at Dublin's Olympia Theatre between September 2008 and May 2013. Paul Galvin featured in that live show along with over fifty other characters. He has also performed shows nationwide and appeared in viral adverts for Lidl, The Irish Sun and Paddy Power.

RTÉ Radio 1

On 20 January 2024,

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

announced that Callan would become the new host of the 9am slot on

taking over from

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. He currently presents the weekday mid-morning programme ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' on Virgin Radio UK, as well as a weekend programme on Sundays. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned ...

References

External links

* * Podcasts
''Nob Nation''

"Me and my money: Oliver Callan"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callan, Oliver 1980 births Gay comedians Gay journalists The Gerry Ryan Show Irish comedy musicians Irish impressionists (entertainers) Irish journalists Irish male comedians Irish parodists Irish satirists Irish television personalities Irish LGBTQ journalists Irish LGBTQ broadcasters Irish LGBTQ comedians Irish gay musicians Living people Parody musicians Radio personalities from the Republic of Ireland Writers from County Monaghan People from Inniskeen Broadcasters from County Monaghan