- BY FRED SPANNER
Loaded sits down for a beer with comedy legend Ed Byrne at the legendary craft beer venue, Art & Craft in Croydon. He’s currently touring his new show Tragedy Plus Time, and is enjoying his pre-show pint, which for those who follow him on social media will know, has become something of a ritual.
Let’s go back the the old days, shall we? Tell us when it all began.
“I first got a feel for comedy when I was compèring at a student union in Glasgow in what used to be the largest licensed premises in the city. I used to host a karaoke and quiz night. Then I got promoted to a role that involved doing speeches and stuff, and it gave me a taste for speaking in public.”
At which point did you realise comedy was going to be your career?
“I had a friend called Chris who worked at the student union and he had a pal in America who was good friends with a comedian, and he was determined that I was funnier than this guy. He was convinced that if this fella could be a comedian, so could I.
“We’d be in meetings together and I’d say the odd funny thing and he’d write it down. Then, at the end of the month, he just pulled out this piece of paper with all these funny things I’d said written on it. I looked at it and thought, “Hmmm, these ARE quite funny.” And so it began.
“So I bought a dictaphone and every time I thought of something funny I’d just put it in there. I started a comedy night in a pub called the 13th Note in Glasgow, back in November 1993. I MC’d it and through that, I learned how to do comedy.
“I paid comedians £100 a night. We also had an open spot who didn’t get paid, and neither did I. The bar took everything else, so I made no money from it. I then handed it over to a couple of guys who booked me for a few gigs, but they only paid me £70 a time! And I’m like, “Wait, you told me £100 was the going rate!” Crazy!”
Did you used to get nervous beforehand?
“I used to get very nervous. So much so that I wondered if I could actually feel this awful and still do it as a full-time job.I thought it would cause me to be dead by the time I was thirty. But, the more you do it, the less nervous you feel and it’s just a question of building your confidence really. You have every right to be nervous. Especially when you’re new and not very good!
“I remember throwing up once before a gig in Acton. I did an open spot and died on my hole. I’d foolishly eaten a fry-up for tea which didn’t help.
“I did a gig called ‘Up The Creek’ which had a notorious reputation and I even remember telling my girlfriend not to come. I had three pints before I went on which is more than I would normally have pre-show. I don’t remember much about it other than it went surprisingly well. I made the mistake of thinking that I could do the job drunk from then onwards.
“To an extent, I could handle a bit of drinking in my 20s, but not these days. Back then I was indestructible. At the Edinburgh Fringe, I would sometimes start drinking during the day. I’d be drunk before an evening show and then go on to do a bunch of late-night shows too, then carry on till four in the morning.
“I can’t do it anymore. Pint-and-a-half tops, these days. My pre-show pint has become a bit of a ritual. I’m having to do all kinds of management now though, like if I have a wine at lunchtime, I’ll tell myself I’d probably better just drink water till the first half of the show. That kind of thing.”
Is the person we see on stage the real Ed Byrne?
“As time’s gone on, the more I’ve been exactly who I am on stage. Just funnier, that’s all. I’m more inclined to say things that I wouldn’t normally say to people. That’s the funny thing about stand up though, isn’t it? It’s all just banter. It’s the only way I can talk to people in that way and not get punched in the face. It’s all me, it’s just turned up a little bit.
“I kind of made a pact with myself about ten years in that I wouldn’t say anything on stage that I wouldn’t think. Cos I remember doing a routine way back about hating kids. And I don’t hate kids. I like them. I’ve got mates with four or five-year-old kids and I’m always trying to make them laugh. But if I can’t make a five-year-old laugh I won’t say “God he’s a miserable cunt, isn’t he?”
“Anyway, my point is that before I might pretend to hold a point of view for the sake of a joke. Now I find something I believe in and tell myself to find a way to make it funny. I’ve found it’s a far more gratifying way to make comedy.”
Do you think the comedy world has changed over the past few decades?
“Obviously there’s a lot of chat at the moment about nobody being able to say anything anymore, but that’s something people have been saying forever. Things tend to shift as far as what you can and can't talk about.
“I do find though that audiences these days tend not to laugh at a joke if they don’t agree with the point being made. If a joke was good, even if they didn’t agree with it they’d at least laugh because it was well constructed. Whether it’s a jab at the Tories or Labour, or a woman making a joke about how men behave, they used to appreciate the joke. They wouldn’t maybe all 100% agree with it, but they went along with it. People are less inclined to make that leap these days.
“They used to, before Brexit. I think that’s when it always kicked off. You could make a joke about David Cameron in Tunbridge Wells to die-hard Tories and they’d laugh at it. He was the Prime Minister, so of course you’re going to make a joke about him. Similarly, you could joke about Ed Milliband in a Labour club and they’d laugh.
“When it became Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, a gap appeared and people seemed to lose their sense of humour. Telling a joke about Jeremy Corbyn to a bunch of people who like Jeremy Corbyn- no way! Making a joke about Brexit to a bunch of Brexiteers- same thing. “Oh, we’re picking on Boris Johnson are we?” He was the fucking Prime Minister! Of course, I’m picking on Boris Johnson!
“When people talk about not having a sense of humour, we tend to think of the “woke left”, but the right is just as bad. I remember telling a joke last year that referenced that weird Liam Neeson video he did where he appeared to be racist. The video was everywhere then it kind of went away. I made a joke about developing a set of skills. Like saying racist things like Liam Neeson then everyone forgetting about it a month later.
“Someone shouted out that the video wasn’t racist. Wasn’t racist? He called the guy a black bastard! He was probably some EDL meathead who wouldn’t accept what had been said. He was obviously used to reading what he wanted to read on social media. He’d be one of those people who, if you tweeted “KILL ALL NAZIS”, would say that you can’t call everyone a Nazi just because they disagree with you. Hey mate, no one called you a Nazi, did they?”
Are there subjects you won’t tackle in comedy?
“I don’t think there is so long as there’s a joke in it. It’s all to do with how you handle it. A lot of the chat about what you can’t say anymore is coming from people who just aren’t able to handle these very difficult subjects.
“You get these open spots who are coming on the scene wondering why no one’s laughing at their rape jokes. These are difficult subjects and need to be handled carefully. If it’s well crafted you can make people laugh at themselves. If the joke is just “I hate this or that” then you won’t.
“Look at someone like Louis CK who was cancelled for something he did off-stage, for example. His off-stage behaviour made people view his on-stage persona as something far more sinister. Before that, he held a unique place in the comedy world with the things he could get away with saying. It was because of who he was and the people he worked with. A real diversity of straight, gay, white black comedians, etc. They gave him kudos in a way that allowed him to get away with a lot of stuff.
“Other people were looking at him and moaning that they’d never get away with what he was saying, but they weren’t him. He’d been around for forty years and he’d earned his place at the top. There were people trying to emulate him, dying on their arses and blaming the woke, or political correctness gone mad. It’s always been this way.
“I remember in the 90s a comedian would storm it, then stick in a Princess Diana joke and people were still lapping it up, Then after she died, you couldn’t. I’ve seen it happen. I remember a particular comedian who had a really good routine about Princess Diana and I remember him having to drop it when she died. Later, when he tried to put it back in again- FUCK!
“People have always had issues with difficult ideas and topics and the idea that it’s anything new is ludicrous.
“I also think that there’s so much comedy to choose from nowadays that you can have exactly what you want. You can choose to watch the comedy that speaks to you personally if that’s what you want.
“You used to have to watch what you were given in the past. For instance, if you were a gay black guy, you would just go and watch a straight white guy talking about the problems he was having with his wife. It didn’t speak to them, but they just went along with it. Now you can choose your own brand of comedy. Comedians who will mirror your personal experiences. I think it’s a good thing, but it does mean that you’re only seeing things that you can relate to.
“To put it bluntly, people aren’t just going to listen to your shit anymore if it's not a reflection of their own lives.”
You’re currently touring your show Tragedy versus Time. This is A SHOW IN WHICH YOU TALK ABOUT THE PASSING OF YOUR BROTHER. Was this the most challenging show you’ve ever written?
“It’s definitely the most challenging show I’ve ever performed. Strangely enough, I probably wrote it faster than any other show I’d done. It all just came out. I remember doing versions of it in the clubs. I had about a 35- to 40-minute story with jokes in it, but quite early on I realised it didn’t feel right performing it in comedy clubs. It was a big ask of a comedy club audience on a Saturday night, for me to come out and say, “Hey, it's me from Mock The Week.” So my brother died…
“What I did was to hire a theatre and perform an hour-long work-in-progress show. The first night I did it at the Museum of Comedy I thought it would come in at around forty minutes and I’d give them about twenty minutes of stand-up at the end. And it came in at an hour! Then it was a case of trying to make it funnier and funnier. It was weirdly quick to write but very difficult to perform.”
Bearing in mind the subject matter, is there a part of the show that you find particularly difficult to perform?
“The first two work-in-progresses I did I found I was crying quite a bit, but the next show…well… the audience wasn’t great. They maybe didn’t feel supportive or whatever, but I was pleased that I was able to just do a soulless run-through of it. And I thought “Well, I’m not letting you guys in”. Since then, I’ve gotten used to it and I generally do manage to get through it okay without tearing up.
“But sometimes, something will surprise me. It will be a different point in the show each time and it’ll get to me a bit. For instance, there’s a bit about what the band Pearl Jam meant to me and Paul. The very day Paul died, Eddie Vedder released a solo album that included a song that begins “I had a brother and now that brother has gone”. What are the chances of that? I mean, are you fucking kidding me?
“And I remember making a remark about how Pearl Jam had a new album out and I still hadn’t listened to it, because Paul hadn’t heard it. And it completely fucking floored me. And for the rest of the show, I was a wreck. The annoying thing is, the more emotional I get on stage, the better the show is, and the more they laugh at the funny bits.
“One thing I won’t do- and I know Paul would hate it- is if I manufactured the emotions. It’s the same if I tell a joke I’ve told a hundred times and the audience will laugh in a certain way, and it’ll make me laugh too. You do often find yourself laughing at your own jokes sometimes, even though you’ve told them so many times before.
“I must stress that it IS a funny show, though! There are a lot of jokes in it.”
We have a new talent show running later this year- The Laftas- Any advice for new budding comedians out there?
“The one thing about me being as old as I am and having been around for as long as I have, my advice is fucking useless now. I hired a woman twenty years younger than me to cut up all of my old videos and post them on social media for me.
“The advice I would have given before would have been if you’re brand new, don’t make the big venues your first port-of-call. Don’t look to do open spots at venues like the Comedy Store. Start at the small venues. If you bomb at the Glee Club and then come back when you’ve improved, you’ll still only have a 50% hit rate there and they’ll remember you.
“The advice that was always given back in the day was to wait until you were really good before trying TV work. Whereas now, everyone is posting videos every day on social media. Flooding the internet with content, content, content.”
There’s plenty of content within Tragedy Plus Time to make you laugh, cry and everything in between. Grab a ticket and enjoy the ride. Because life’s too short.
Ed Byrne - Tragedy Plus Time Tour
Tickets are available here!
DUBLIN
Wednesday 5th March 2025
Liberty Hall Theatre
NAAS
Friday 7th March 2025
Moat Theatre
WEST CORK
Saturday 8th March 2025
Martime Hotel
KILLARNEY
Sunday 9th March 2025
INEC
ATHLONE
Monday 10th March 2025
Dean Crowe
LAUNCESTON
Wednesday 19th March 2025
Town Hall
EASTBOURNE
Thursday 20th March 2025
Hippodrome
CHIPPING NORTON
Friday 21st March 2025
Theatre
PLYMOUTH
Saturday 22nd March 2025
Quad
CHIPPING SODBURY
Sunday 23rd March 2025
Town Hall
ILKLEY
Wednesday 26th March 2025
Kings Hall
STOCKTON
Thursday 27th March 2025
The Arc
MILTON KEYNES
Sunday 30th March 2025
The Stables
GUERNSEY
Wednesday 2nd April 2025
St James
LONDON
Friday 4th April 2025
Blackheath Halls
LONDON
May 10th 2025
BLOOMSBURY THEATRE
FILMED PERFORMANCE
