Top 10 Funniest Moments on Mrs Brown's Boys

"Mammy's Ass" The first series of “Mrs Brown’s Boys” was a roaring success for the BBC. Initially a radio show, and then a series of Books, Ireland’s Brendan O’Carroll adapted his Agnes Brown stories into movies–before finally landing a TV sitcom to reach British audiences. The successful debut immediately greenlit a Christmas special–and within, an introduction of a new nemesis for Mrs. Brown–the Christmas Tree. Every Christmas episode will have Agnes go toe-to-toe with the customary conifers; which get increasingly further from traditional. The first was simply a tree that was much-too-tall, and Agnes’ attempts to decorate it gave us a hilarious display of O’Carroll’s incredible comic physicality. Every year, the show will try to top the previous tree, but the first is just too iconic.

"Mammy of the Groom" Like every “Mammy,” Agnes has concern for her children’s lovelives. With Dermot getting married, Mark already wed and Trevor being a Priest, there’s still Cathy and Rory to consider. Hitherto this ep, Rory hasn’t yet come out, and Cathy wants Agnes to understand more about being gay before he does–via a useful book: “Homosexuality & Me.” However, Agnes mistakes this as a sign of Cathy hinting that she’s a lesbian–and mulls it over with her friend Winnie. The misconceptions of the traditionally conservative older generation of Ireland are succinctly, cleverly and humourously represented in the dialogue–perfectly rounded off by the pair’s awkwardness. It’s made even more poignant as Brendan O’Carroll’s sister Eilish, who plays Winnie, had her own ‘coming out’ experience in her forties.

"Mammy's Going" In an otherwise downer of an episode, there is a moment which induces tears of laughter. With series two’s fifth episode, the family decide that it’s time for Agnes’ old canine–Spartacus–to be put into a home. As they list all the reasons why, including senility and incontinence, an unfortunate case of misinterpretation is occurring in the background. Poor Mrs Brown believes that it’s her that is being put into a home. It’s a simple farcical moment, but executed to comedy perfection; a hilarious moment of dramatic irony. It only works since it’s too easy to falsely equate Agnes with an old… well, you know what… and if you don’t, just ask Grandad what her nickname is.

"Mammy's Tickled Pink" It can happen to anyone, taking a perfectly innocent looking intimate pleasure device and mistaking it for a kitchen utensil. Ok, perhaps it’s just Agnes then, who goes searching in Cathy’s parcel of sellable items believing it to be tupperware. The only problem is that Cathy works for “Tickled Pink,” a store that sells toys for the bedroom. Of course, we think we know exactly where this is going–especially when Father Damien exclaims his nostalgia for licking the whipped cream from a whisk when his mother made apple pie. “Mrs Brown’s Boys” is often criticized for taking the lowest hanging fruit of the comedy tree–but we defy anyone not to laugh at moments like these–especially when it goes a slightly different way than expected…

"Mammy's Secret" The staple feature of “Mrs Brown’s Boys” is very much the fast-and-loose approach to production. Aside from the fourth-wall breaks, there’s plenty of ad-libbing from Brendan O’Carroll–going off the script that he wrote–to make actors drop character and start laughing–known in the biz, as “corpsing.” The style was established early in the series, when he didn’t tell Cathy actress (and real-life wife) Jennifer Gibney what one-liner Agnes was going to say to close out a conversation from a dirty caller. The line is good, but Gibney’s reaction makes it even more brilliant… and there’s many more moments like this that follow!

"Mammy Rides Again" Introducing drink into any situation will normally have regrettable consequences. A wayward text message, an awkward night of dancing or a conversation that seems eloquent–but is actually inarticulate, are all products of reduced inhibitions. So, what happens when you introduce the sauce to someone who already lacks many of them? Having downed a bottle of Vodka prior to entertaining Hilary–Agnes attempts to host her future fellow in-law… attempts being the operative word. She can barely string a sentence together, and that’s before the wine begins topping up the inebriation. The conversation over Redser’s way with words, and Hilary’s posh dialect are a joy to watch… before Grandad, Father Quinn, a mistimed haymaker to Dino and an exploding toilet quickly sober her up.

"SuperMammy" Another criticism of “Mrs Brown’s Boys” is in the idea of it being old fashioned in its comedy. Men playing women on TV is largely considered pastiche, modern drag restoring an artistic joie de vivre. But we’d argue Agnes Brown’s adventures harken to a different tradition–pantomime. There’s no fourth wall, character breaking… and plenty of physical comedy with the theatrical travesti. Brendan O’Carroll will often be seen bouncing around the set–but his slapstick talents hilariously juxtapose his written dialogue about how normal Agnes is. Dressed as Wonder Woman, she crawls, falls and poses around the living room, until collapsing onto the floor. With the laughter coming from the studio audience, it’s hard to even hear poor Cathy and Professor Clowne at all.

"Mammy Swings" It’s Rory’s turn to fly the next for the Series 3 finale, and with another wedding brings more hijinks. Mick’s “very very broadminded” parents have somehow managed to be invited to the event. Of course, we all know what it means, but the poor Mother-of-the-Groom believes the swingers are fans of Jazz music. Their meeting is one comic moment after another, and a traditional ad-lib to break character is classic “Mrs Brown’s Boys." That said, it is a scripted line and dubious method of opening a wine bottle that prompts a rare break-in-character from Eilish O' Carroll. Sure, the set-up is obvious, and the payoff can be seen from miles away, but the simplicity of the situation is what makes it all swing towards hysterics.

"Mammy's Merchandise" Although it is very obvious that Agnes Brown is played by a male actor, there’s not really much humour drawn from that. However, an early exception is brilliant. Of course, we’ve had plenty of waxing moments in comedy before–lest we forget Steve Carell’s red-raw chest But, for “Mrs. Brown’s Boys” the whole scene relies on sound effects and off-stage dialogue… and our imagination for what is going on behind the door! It’s Buster who adds the comedy cherry–without words–but with a stamp on the wax strip Sure, the show’s cross-dressing is often derided as old-hat, but O’Carroll actually assumed the role for the stage adaptation in lieu of a no-showing actress. Much of the scripts were originally intended for an actress in the role.

"New Mammy" As we all know by now, the scripts are lackadaisical at best! There could be a separate list for the top moments of Brendan O’Carroll forcing his co-stars to corpse. But with Rory Cowan, who played Rory until his–quote–”amicable” 2017 departure, O’Carroll reserved his best. He’d often prank his on-screen son–once by planting a mobile phone on his costume–to derail Cowan’s performance in more tender scenes. But our favourite is similar, and earlier. During what was meant to be a solemn moment, O’Carroll deliberately misspoke the word “gondola,” replacing it with a particular STI… It’s the moments after that left everyone in the studio, and at home, creased. O’Carroll, plowing on with the scene, juxtaposing a still-corpsing Cowan… and hypocritically giving a serious performance! Are you still eager to see “Mrs Brown’s Boys,” or has Agnes outstayed her welcome? Let us know in the comments.