Happy Birthday Dara Ó Briain! 10 Things We Love About The Original Craic Dealer

Our very own dealer of craic Dara Ó Briain is turning 41 years old today, so we figured it was only fitting to celebrate the man himself.

Over the past few years, Dara has brought us some amazing stand up and some fantastic television (The Panel, anyone?). He’s also made us laugh so hard we almost wet ourselves.

He’s hilarious, he’s sarcastic and he’s a little bit cranky at times but we adore him just the same.

Happy Birthday Dara! Here are ten reasons why we love you oh-so-much...

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10. He has ALL the smarts: Dara studied maths and theoretical physics in University College Dublin (as you do like). He was also a whizz kid when it came to debating. He’s fluent in Irish and he loves letting his nerdy side out. He’s appeared alongside the uber-smart Professor Brian Cox on Stargazing Live and he presented his own maths-based programme The School of Hard Sums too.

9. He’s not really into fame: He’s a humble chap, our Dara. You’d never catch him rocking a see-through dress like Rihanna, no sir. And he’s totally okay with the fact that he doesn’t get recognised that much. “Living in London I probably only get recognised about once a day. And that’s okay by me. I’m not a celebrity. And I certainly don’t see myself as one,” he’s quoted as saying.

8. He’s handsome: Dara describes himself as looking  like “one of Tony Soprano’s henchman.” Nice.

7. He’s hilarious on Twitter: He cracks us up with his funny tweets and, if his Twitter bio is to be believed, he occasionally hands out free puppies...

6. He used to present Echo Island: And he’s sort of mortified about that fact...

5. He’s great at incorporating stuff into his stand-up: One Her.ie staff member had the pleasure of seeing Dara in Kilkenny recently. While on stage, he was viciously attacked by a daddy long legs. Rather than ignoring it, Dara managed to get at least fifteen minutes of hilarious material out of the wayward flying spider thing. What a legend.

4. He gives amazing hugs: Another member of the Her.ie team was also lucky enough to experience a hug from Dara. The result? He’s super-cuddly and gives a great bear hug.

3. He just looks like he’d be great craic: If we could have any Irish celeb as our BFF, we’d pick Dara. You just know he’d be right craic if you had him over to watch a film/the X-Factor on a Saturday night.

2. He mortifies his audience: It sucks if you’re one of the people he slags off during his routine, but it’s all kinds of hilarious if you’re not. Those poor, poor suckers in the front row. We’d feel for you but your embarrassment is too funny...

1. He’s fantastic at what he does: Exhibit A: