A new Irish animation is gathering a loyal following using the most unlikely untapped resource of Irish humour: male banter.

The Horse’s Mouth Show

(thehorsesmouthshow.com) is a series that draws inspiration from five men sitting in a room and talking. Its creator, Trevor Courtney, stumbled on the idea on a night out. “Me and one of the guys on the show were in a taxi,” he says. “I had an MP3 player with a record function. Later, when I was looking for something I had recorded, I realised it had been recording in my pocket. I was about to delete it but kept listening because we were talking about something funny. Then I started to visualise it and thought it could be animated.”

The result is so far a triptych of animated shorts, taking in various issues from rubbish superheroes to Regaine, sleep apnea and bathroom accidents.

“We were just seeing where it went,” says Courtney. “It’s five lads sitting in a room and mic’d up with a few beers . . . we were going to just do one [episode] for the laugh, then see if it could be developed further and see if we could make a pilot for it.” The signs are promising, and the formula of unscripted conversation is perfect in its simplicity, reminiscent of an early Ricky Gervais podcast.

Courtney believes it works because the stars of the show aren’t trying; they’re just naturally funny. “I thought it would be cool to do it without comedians,” he says. “A lot of people are funny or interesting, but don’t want the pressure of getting up on stage. But if you’re sitting in a room in someone’s flat with a small mic on your shirt, you get pretty relaxed.” The next instalment will be uploaded in two to three weeks.