| Tadhg Hickey | |
| Birth Place: | Cork, Ireland |
| Education: | University College Cork |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
| Genre: | Political satire and stand-up comedy |
Tadhg Hickey (; born 1982) is an Irish polemicist, comedian, writer, and filmmaker known for his work in both television, theatre and in particular his video shorts on social media. He has gained recognition for his sketches regarding social and political commentary.[1]
Hickey was born in Cork and raised in MacCurtain's Villas, Cork City, Ireland.[2] He grew up in a working-class background, his father working in a car manufacturing plant. He was the first in his family to go to University College Cork, where he studied philosophy.[3] In a 2023 interview he stated that, in his early adult years, he was influenced by people like Ricky Gervais, James Joyce, Kehinde Andrews, Steve Coogan, Claire Keegan, Roy Andersson and John Pilger.[1]
In addition to his work in theatre, Hickey also worked in television and film. Some of these productions, broadcast on RTÉ, included Ronanism (2015),[4] and The School (2017).[5]
As a writer, Hickey has written several stage plays, including GATMAN and In One Eye, Out the Other, which were performed in theatres such as the Everyman in Cork, Smock Alley in Dublin, and the Playhouse in Derry.[6]
In 2019, he was shortlisted for a "best performer" award at the Dublin Fringe Festival.[7] A short film, written by Hickey and titled Uisce Beatha, won the first runner-up prize at the Ford '8 Minutes' short film competition in 2012.[8]
Hickey focuses much of his political satire at Britain, and England in particular, particularly the colonial period of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th century along with anti-imperialist ideologies and the current legacies of the empire including the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[1] [9] He is also critical of British, and especially English, people, who he has described as "imbeciles" and "lurching towards fascism".[10] [11]
In autumn 2023, Hickey had been touring with his stand-up show titled The Marxist Terrorist-Supporting Scumbag Tour in the UK and Ireland.[3] This show focused on themes such as dysfunctional families and decolonialism or as he quoted "his raison d'être - trying to break up the United Kingdom through the unusual medium of comedy".[12]
After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, he increased his focus with multiple sketches about the "hypocrisy" of its coverage in western media.[13] Hickey's activism on behalf of Palestine led him to accept an invitation to visit Iran where, in May 2024, he accepted an award at the Sobh Media Festival.[14] When in Tehran, he attended the funeral of president Ebrahim Raisi where on the street he was filmed chanting 'death to Israel' based on the encouragement from a participant. Hickey avers that he did so without any knowledge of the Farsi language.[15]
As of mid-2024, Hickey´s political satire videos on social media had more than 100 million views globally.[16]
Hickey has two daughters and is a supporter of Celtic F.C..[17] A recovering alcoholic, he has written a book about his experiences of this addiction.[18] In a 2022 interview, he stated that he "replaced that addiction [to alcohol] with an addiction to work and social media".[19]
He identifies as an Irish republican.[20] When Irish rugby fans adopted The Cranberries song 'Zombie' during the 2023 Rugby World Cup as an unofficial anthem, Hickey called it a "partitionist anthem" which showed a "complete lack of understanding" from those in the Republic of Ireland "to what was happening to nationalists across the border" in Northern Ireland.[21]
In 2021, Hickey raised over EUR30,000 for Aida Palestinian Refugee Camp[9] and he also participated in fundraisers and a 24-hour fast organised to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.[22]
Hickey has also been involved in the Welsh independence campaign.[3]