D’Unbelievables – classic Irish characters

D'Unbelievables. Image copyright Ireland Calling

D’Unbelievables are a legendary comedy duo from Ireland. Limerick comedians Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny formed the double act in the late 1980s, and were hugely popular in Ireland throughout the 1990s both on television and on stage.

D’Unbelievables consisted of numerous characters played by Shortt and Kenny, often exaggerated versions of people that would be encountered by many in their everyday lives.

They were forced to stop performing as a pair when Kenny was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease in 2000, but reformed in late 2010 for an appearance on the Late Late Show and followed that with a nationwide tour.

Both Shortt and Kenny are also talented musicians, and they would often end their stage performances with a song.

D’Unbelievables – Crimebusters

D'Unbelievables Crimebusters. Image copyright Ireland Calling

Here are a couple of their most famous sketches, and the full version of one of their most successful shows, D’Video.

D’Unbelievables – How Much are Dem?

D'Unbelievables - How Much are Dem? Image copyright Ireland Calling

The How Much are Dem sketch is one of D’Unbelievables most famous. The schoolboy is played brilliantly by Pat Shortt. The indecision and lack of assertiveness are traits that many of us will have seen before from schoolkids in our local sweet shop. Jon Kenny is also superb as the frustrated shopkeeper.

D’Unbelievables – A Right Funny Man Darcy

D'Unbelievables - A Right Funny Man Darcy. Image copyright Ireland Calling

Pat Shortt is fantastic in this sketch as an old school headmaster, mercilessly picking on the members of his audience. He takes a particular dislike to one poor man, who he labels ‘Funny Man Darcy’ after he disrupts his ‘class’.

D’Unbelievables – D’Video

Here is D’Video in its entirety, one of the most successful shows D’Unbelievables ever did.

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