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David Chambers, commonly known as Blindboy Boatclub, is an Irish satirist, musician, podcaster, author, and TV presenter.

Blindboy Boatclub
Blindboy Boatclub
Birth name	David Chambers[1]
Born	1984 (age 37–38)[2] Limerick, Ireland[3]
Medium	Podcast Television
Alma mater	Ardscoil Rís, Limerick, Limerick School of Art and Design[3][4]
Genres	Satire[5]

Boatclub is from Limerick and is best known as one half of the Irish comedy hip-hop group The Rubberbandits, who wear plastic shopping bags as masks to conceal their identities. He regularly discusses mental health, masculinity, and other socio-political issues.[6][7]

Since 2017, he has been making The Blindboy Podcast,[8] a podcast featuring interviews and coverage of social issues. He has also published two collections of short stories,[9][10] and appeared on a number of television and podcast programmes. Between 2018 and 2019, he produced a BBC Three documentary series, Blindboy Undestroys the World.[11]

Personal life

David Chambers was born in Limerick in 1984,[2] where he attended secondary school in Ardscoil Rís.[3] While at school, he met Bob McGlynn and formed the satirical comedy pairing The Rubberbandits (performing under the pseudonyms "Blindboy Boatclub" and "Mr Chrome" respectively).[4] Chambers later attended the Limerick School of Art and Design.[4]

Chambers was diagnosed with autism in his 30s following comments from Blindboy Podcast listeners.[12]

Podcast

Originally touring and performing as part of a duo, Chambers (under the name Blindboy Boatclub) has produced a number of "solo" works, including a podcast which covers topics such as mental health, politics, culture, music, and history.[7] In the Blindboy Podcast, Boatclub sometimes provides "hot takes" and social commentary alongside personal stories and "absurdist riffs".[7][13][14] The podcast has also included interviews with people such as Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Spike Lee, Emma Dabiri, Colm O'Gorman, Cillian Murphy and other comedians, activists and academics.[14][15][16][17]

The podcast reportedly has 250,000 weekly listeners in Ireland and over a million worldwide listeners monthly.[13] Boatclub has also played live tours of the podcast around Ireland and the UK,[18] also touring in Australia,[19] New Zealand,[20] and Canada.[21]

Twitch stream

Beginning in 2020, Boatclub began a regular Twitch stream, which to date has featured him playing Red Dead Redemption II, while also creating live music using a combination of guitars, keyboard, drums, cowbell and his own ad-libbed vocals, and interacting with fans. From January 2021, he reduced the stream to just Thursday evenings, in order to concentrate on other work.[22][23]

Television

Boatclub made a five-part documentary series called Blindboy Undestroys the World for BBC Three which explored contemporary issues in the UK.[11][5] The 2018 pilot episode, which covered the housing system in the UK, was long-listed for a BAFTA award.[24] This was followed by a four-part series in 2019 which looked at precarious employment, anxiety, the internet, and modern slavery.[25]

Boatclub has also appeared on several Irish programmes, including The Late Late Show and The Tommy Tiernan Show.[26][27] He has also appeared on Russell Brand's Under the Skin with Russell Brand and The Trews web series.[28][29]

Books

He has published two collections of satirical short stories:

• The Gospel According to Blindboy, Gill Books, 2017[9]
• Boulevard Wren and other Stories, Gill Books, 2019[24][10]

References

External links

• The Blindboy Podcast
• The Blindboy Twitch Stream

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