The 2 Johnnies should stick to their guns

In this week's The Good Life column, Gemma gives her views, as a young woman, on the controversial car sticker saga and The 2 Johnnies...

If you’re not a fan of The 2 Johnnies, I'm hoping I may be able to change your mind. If you saw the pair of them for the first time on the front page of The Independent last Thursday, please don’t judge them based on the first time they made a mistake. Was it even a mistake? I’ll get to that later.

The 2 Johnnies, John McMahon and John O’Brien, are a comedy duo from Tipperary. One was a butcher, the other a hurley maker. With a sense of humour and a huge interest in GAA, they began podcasting in 2018. The podcast is the fastest growing in Ireland. It is no wonder really - it’s easy to listen to, sometimes informative and above all absolutely hilarious. No matter what sort of humour you find yourself in, they will always put a smile on your face.

When I started college, I quickly realised there’s only so much music you can listen to during the three-hour commute. I wanted to start listening to a podcast, but I hadn’t found one yet that I absolutely adored. I’m extremely fussy when it comes to podcasters, I have to like the voice and the accent. The content, the person and everything could be amazing but, if I don’t like how they sound, I won’t listen. It’s hard to explain but some people just have a voice that you could listen to all day. The 2 Johnnies certainly have it. The southern accent is something that I have been newly introduced to since starting college. Some key phrases I have picked up on so far are ‘for a finish’ which explains the end result of something, nobody ever says ‘in the’, you would be ‘inside in the shop’ or ‘inside in the pub.’ Finally saying ‘girl’ after everything is so common, if you’re ever told ‘gurl get ready!’ you need to get dressed immediately. So I started listening to the podcast on my commute a few months back. I now listen to it religiously every week.

The podcast opens with the 2 Johnnies theme tune, a welcome from the pair and the rundown of what the podcast is going to discuss. It then goes on to correspondence from the listeners, the best of which wins a 2 Johnnies mug. This could be anything, from awkward experiences to strange habits, so I wouldn’t recommend listening with children.

The guest speaker then comes on to talk about, yet again, anything. Speakers in the past have included Tommy Tiernan, Conor McGregor and more recently food critic Lil Mo Mozzarella and relationship expert Doctor Caroline West.

Producer Maura Fay then discusses her 'mystery topic’ which, as the name suggests, again could be anything from accents to dog parenting. Noel Furlong, a fictional character impersonating an old Irish man, then comes on to give his take on international and global news. The 90-minute podcast concludes with The 2 Johnnies ‘yurts and dirts of the week’, which are the highs and lows of the week for the pair.

I was delighted for the duo when they announced their own segment on RTE 2FM. Every weekday from 3-6 was ‘Drive it’ with The 2 Johnnies. They began on February 21, Monday to Wednesday. I was in college at that time so I didn’t get to tune in. I was keeping an eye on their social media though and all seemed to be going really well for them.

Thursday evening came and I got out of my 4-6 lecture early. I was delighted, an hour before their show was due to finish and I was on the road for home. I tuned into 2FM, but no sign of The 2 Johnnies. I listened for a few minutes, wondering what was happening. When I realised they weren’t coming on, I put on their podcast.

I called into The Galway Plaza on the way home, only to see the pair on the front page of The Independent. I couldn’t believe it, I was so disappointed for them.

To make a long story short, they had been discussing car stickers on their podcast. They posted a video of the stickers on their social media pages, which many found sexist, leading RTE to take them off air. I’m sure I don’t have to explain car stickers, there are plenty of them about Cavan, but some of them can be inappropriate, especially towards women.

The podcast was hilarious, myself and my friend (both young females), were in stitches laughing. We didn’t take offence at the pair discussing the stickers, it’s not like they were agreeing with them or promoting them. They were basically saying these are scandalous, who would want this on their car?

We see the stickers on cars all the time, it was relatable and that’s why we found it funny. The stickers are out there and have been on the market for years, and that has nothing got to do with The 2 Johnnies.

Following a review by RTE, The comedians are due back on 2FM on March 14. I was delighted when I heard the news and I think it is the right decision.

Speaking about the stickers is not the problem, the stickers themselves are the problem. I think it's very important that people remember this.