Comic 'terrified' by pub bust-up

Footballer was enraged by gay gags

Irish comedian Oliver Callan has spoken of how he was left ‘rattled’ and ‘terrified’ after being confronted by a Gaelic footballer he mimicked on air.

Kerry forward Paul Galvin confronted Callan in a Dublin pub over his portrayal of him as an effeminate fashion victim.

In his first interview since Wednesday’s bust-up, Callan said: ‘He started staring me down and shouting, “You weasel, you sneaky little cunt”.’

The impressionist told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘He came at me with his head and pushed it up against my forehead. I backed off as far as I could, my back to the bar. But he kept going on, kept shouting.

‘I was rattled. I was shaking. I was terrified, to be honest – Paul Galvin coming at you. I wasn’t going to be taking him on. He’s a full-on athlete and I’m a big-boned comedian from Monaghan. It wasn’t going to be a fair battle.’

Eventually, with others in the bar telling him to calm down, Galvin left the bar of his own accord.

Sources in the GAA star’s camp gave his side of the story to the Sunday Independent, saying the footballer was enranged by Callan’s appearance on The Saturday Night Show back in March.

There the comedian joked about Galvin’s ‘years spent in the closet’. The footballer complained to RTE over the broadcast, saying it was ‘excruciating’ to watch the gay jibes in the company of his parents.

Galvin says he wants to make peace with Callan, and has instructed solicitors to help come to a deal.

For his part, the comedian said he had not yet made a formal complaint to the Garda, but said: ‘My legal team and his lawyers are talking. I don’t want to pursue things if he apologises – basically, that’s all I’m looking for.

‘I’ve no personal gripe against him. Anything I’ve done on air has been for a joke. I mean, he is comedy gold. He’s a GAA player, extremely macho on the one hand and on the other hand, he’s big into his fashion and is obviously promoted as a fashion journalist.’

Yesterday, Galvin was the butt of more jokes on Callan’s Green Tea show on on RTE Radio One, with a sketch showing no one wanting to go o the pub with him.

Here is the offending scene from The Saturday Night Show, when Callan was impersonating Senator David Norris: