Ed Byrne's Crowd Pleaser at The Brighton Dome (13/10/2011)
When bespectacled Irish funny-man and Mock the Week regular Ed Byrne strode onto the stage, pint in hand, he was greeted by rapturous applause from a bizarrely depleted crowd inside the Brighton Dome. Confronted with a venue that was only two thirds full Byrne responded with the type of loveable self-deprecation that seems reserved for on the most jovial of comedians. With a wry smile playing across his lips he quipped; ‘Well I’ve been here twice on this tour and collectively I’ve sold it out once...not bad goin’!’
His nerdy appearance and keen to please manner skilfully mask the precision and masterful comic timing that this road hardened comedian possesses. His comedy comes from observational type storytelling and razor sharp observations that at times can veer dangerously close to rambling but always lead to a clever, witty and impeccably delivered punch line often building up to the payoff with increasingly funny jokes (a process that he mentions throughout in a self aware and meta fashion).
Byrne is erudite, articulate and unlike many of his peers his jokes never stray into cruel territory which gives him a charm that is hard to match. Even when he interacts with the crowd his responses never set out to attack or mock the audience member but instead ask them to think about it from a different point of view. At one point he asked the audience to tell him about times that celebrities had been less than courteous to them. One particularly disgruntled man, who works as a chef on film sets, said that he thought Michael Cane had been rude because he asked for an omelette at 3am ‘just because he could’ to which Byrne replied; ‘Don’t you think he might just have been hungry?’ The only snippet of genuine hate and vitriol was directed towards Peirs Morgan which, needless to say, got one of the biggest cheers of the night.
Byrne’s topics of observation ran the gamut from his own pedantic nerdyness to celebrity culture to the trials and tribulations of being a father. His comedy is closely bound up in stories of his own life. Some of the best material comes when he describes the relationship between him and his wife. The interactions that they share not only let you get to know Ed Byrne as a person but also communicate universal truths that are implicit in any and all relationships. Byrne’s likeable, nerdy and affable manner coupled with a hilarious, expertly honed comic act made for a fantastic night of comedy. If the Dome continues to host top talent like this the Brighton Comedy festival will go from strength to strength.
'BadIdeaDan' at mlm
His nerdy appearance and keen to please manner skilfully mask the precision and masterful comic timing that this road hardened comedian possesses. His comedy comes from observational type storytelling and razor sharp observations that at times can veer dangerously close to rambling but always lead to a clever, witty and impeccably delivered punch line often building up to the payoff with increasingly funny jokes (a process that he mentions throughout in a self aware and meta fashion).
Byrne is erudite, articulate and unlike many of his peers his jokes never stray into cruel territory which gives him a charm that is hard to match. Even when he interacts with the crowd his responses never set out to attack or mock the audience member but instead ask them to think about it from a different point of view. At one point he asked the audience to tell him about times that celebrities had been less than courteous to them. One particularly disgruntled man, who works as a chef on film sets, said that he thought Michael Cane had been rude because he asked for an omelette at 3am ‘just because he could’ to which Byrne replied; ‘Don’t you think he might just have been hungry?’ The only snippet of genuine hate and vitriol was directed towards Peirs Morgan which, needless to say, got one of the biggest cheers of the night.
Byrne’s topics of observation ran the gamut from his own pedantic nerdyness to celebrity culture to the trials and tribulations of being a father. His comedy is closely bound up in stories of his own life. Some of the best material comes when he describes the relationship between him and his wife. The interactions that they share not only let you get to know Ed Byrne as a person but also communicate universal truths that are implicit in any and all relationships. Byrne’s likeable, nerdy and affable manner coupled with a hilarious, expertly honed comic act made for a fantastic night of comedy. If the Dome continues to host top talent like this the Brighton Comedy festival will go from strength to strength.
'BadIdeaDan' at mlm