Barry Murphy is a true pioneer in Irish comedy. With Ardal O’Hanlon and Kevin Gildea, he co-founded The International Comedy Club in Dublin, which became the breeding ground for the Irish alternative-comedy boom of the 1990s, the repercussions of which still echo today. One-third of Aprés Match, his turns as Frank Stapleton and Liam Brady were nothing short of inspired, while his German character, Günther, is a brilliant means through which we can laugh at the absurdity of what we often think of as normal in Irish society.