He can be Brian Cody, Joe Brolly, Liam Neeson, or Morgan Freeman, or many others depending on what takes his fancy. Talented Galway man Aidan Tierney has certainly been making waves recently due to his excellent impersonations of famous characters.
The Killererin native features regularly on the Galway Bay FM breakfast show, but it was never going to be long before his immense talent was discovered by a wider audience and he has now appeared on many media outlets including Irish TV and RTE Radio One. His Tierney Talks pages are also building a steady online following on U-tube, Twitter, and Facebook.
Mr Tierney knew from a young age that he had a talent for impersonating famous names. “It was just something I was able to do. It was always there. You either have it or you don’t, mimicking a voice isn’t something you can train for, they just kind of come out. It’s hard to explain. It’s like being a singer, you either have an ear for it or not.’’
He never thought too much about his ‘gift’ but after much encouragement from his brother decided to record a demo last January. “My brother had been at me for ages to do a proper recording. Last April was the first time I ever stood in front of a recording mike. I blasted out 12 or 13 characters - people like Joe Brolly, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Mick McCarthy (ex Irish Soccer manager ) and even Kevin Webster from Coronation Street. It went really well and just flowed. I put the demo up on U-tube and pretty much forgot about it. A friend of mine from Tuam loved it and contacted Oillie Turner and that is how I started doing stuff with the lads on Galway Bay FM.’’
He now contributes regularly to Molly’s Moments during Molly in the Morning and is delighted with the PPI Award nomination for best entertainment insert. He also worked on the station’s Soft FM show which has been shortlisted for Best Comedy Programme. A public servant by day, he is very grateful to GBFM for launching what has now turned into an exciting sideline career. “They took a bit of a leap of faith with me. I don’t think they ever had anybody doing impersonations before. Oillie and Molly put so much work into the show, any award or recognition is well deserved. There is great chemistry between the two of them and they have started pushing the boundaries a bit with entertainment and it is certainly reaping rewards - they are giving some of the big guys a run for their money.”
The mimic says if he cannot get a voice absolutely perfect he refrains from the impersonation as he believes if the audience does not actually believe it is that person, the whole exercise is pointless. Content is also key to a good performance. Although he says he would not describe himself as a creative person, there is certainly an element of creativity involved in coming up with ideas for pieces.
His impersonation of Morgan Freeman doing his legendary Shawshank Redemption speech about freedom is a must listen, as a case in point. “You can be a good mimic but what you say has to be funny as well. It has to be a little ridiculous and quirky. Ideas can come to me at any time, it could be something I see or hear but a lot of the live stuff is impromptu so you also have to be able to react to situations happening around you.”
Life has certainly got very busy over the past number of weeks as the media exposure continues to intensify. He is also in demand for all types of private functions and is throughly enjoying the experience. “It is good fun, I’m getting to meet a lot of nice people and it is a nice distraction from the day job. Im going to keep it going and see where it takes me.”
+Aidan can be contacted at [email protected], or via the Tierney Talks Facebook page.
