I've praised and written favorably about Feherty many times over the years here on GCA.com. I particularly liked his written but never followed up semi-serial of comic columns on 'Scrots Woods Club' and tales of the MacGregor clan. I do think he has 'the gift' and it seems to be a very Irish thing to fight the devil in a bottle with wit and charm. But, from my experiencial observations of this 'Irish thing', the sword of razor sharp wit is two sided and the dullard edge can be brandished as well. A few folks have weighed in negatively on Feherty's real writing talent. But I see DF in much the same way as I saw Frank McCort and his enormously funny and talented writing, with all the same demons effecting them in that too Irish sort of way whether it is self inflicted or put upon them by a family member. Again, I have no basis of expertise, but my own life experiences does inform me that some sort of tragic-comedic, or bi-polar or manic depressive personality follows us around in a perverse haunting manner.
I think he runs the risk of being overexposed. The meat of his interviews was great on this recent series of his own show. But, he needs an agent to tell him to back off the fart and scat jokes, and let his humor be the rare treat of infrequently offered treats, rather than the machine gun one liners and constant barrage like Robin Williams on Coke. It seems like a formula for burn-out.
I'm not nuts about his politics or adopted overt show of Nouveau Texan rightwingism and patriotism worn on his sleeve. I'm reminded of the Samuel Johnson quotes. But, I'm rooting for DF to have a continued good run. His positives outweigh his negatives in my view and I look forward to his humorous and insightful take on many things.