Ed Byrne is not one of those household comedy names, nor is he an unknown. The 37-year-old Irishman is no newcomer to the comedy world having already completed three sell out tours in the UK alone and recognised as an undeniably skilled professional with a perfected style of his own.The most instant and enjoyable thing about Byrne is his likability. There is nothing more uncomfortable than watching a comedian choke the audience with their ego whilst demanding laughs because they’re on television. He quickly established a relaxed and light hearted atmosphere by seeming to enjoy himself on stage and appear comfortable in his own skin.
An animated and gifted story teller, Byrne really gives the effect that he’s passionate about his frustrations with movie storylines that don’t make sense, his position in the class system and the ridiculousness of wedding planning.
At a time when swearing is used exuberantly in comedy, Byrne’s timing, use and choice of swear words only ever added to the material that was nothing short of hilarious as he spins his comical yarns about ridiculous human behaviour such as those one-liner retorts that are thought up months after an argument takes place.One of my personal highlights was Byrne's fast talking quick fire delivery system which not only made it more engaging, but meant that the audience were treated to a surplus of material.
I was almost embarrassed during the repeated incoherent outcries of a random member of the audience which quickly subsided when Byrne finally responded: “Did you wake up this morning, and think ‘I’m a d**k. Now how can I prove this to 600 people?’” Whilst this is contrasting my point about being offensive, whenever he did decide to slate a person, they deserved it.
To finish, the encore was mainly a mockery of encores themselves, telling tales of audiences that weren’t aware of an encore and fled the building as though a military operation were in place before he could return to the stage. Fortunately, our audience were only too happy to applaud for more of the consistent and colourful humour we’d seen through both sides of the interval.
Byrne can be seen throughout the rest of November at the following venues:
25/11 - Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
26/11 – London Hammersmith Apollo
27/11 – Cheltenham Town Hall
28/11 – Newcastle City Hall
Details are available on Ed Byrne’s website: www.edbyrne.com.
Tickets can be purchases at: www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
