There’s a good reason why visiting stand-ups like Irishmen Ed Byrne and Dylan Moran not only sell out shows, they have to put on extra ones to cope with the demand.  They’re brilliant.  Assured, but still occasionally surprising themselves when they go on tangents.  Their shows are crafted, but you never get any sense that they’re bored with their material. And – funny!

Ed Bryne is one of the best in this tough old business.  Great comedy is universal, and it should make us question ourselves even while we’re laughing.  There’s a perfect mix of meaningful and hilarious in a stand up routine and Bryne nails it.

[Note: This is taken from a composite Comedy Fest Wrap review.- ed]

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Ed Byrne is an angry man – well, in an affable sort of way. Returning to New Zealand after 4 years absence, the show was a prelude to his residency in Auckland as part of the International Comedy festival. After a fairly average warm up by Paul Ego – a man whose act never really got going – Ed came out on stage to rapturous applause, and it never really stopped from there. [Read more]

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A LONG-TIME favourite, I remember seeing Irishman Ed Byrne when he was in New Zealand a number of years back and he was doing his "travelling the world and apologising for Riverdance" and "Alanis Morissette" routine. He was bloody clever and bloody funny then so I was keen to see how he was going to go over this time around. [Read more]

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On the eve of the official launch of Auckland’s (and New Zealand’s) 2007 International Comedy Festival, Ed Byrne jumps the gun in a sort of premature ejaculation special, overseas there in Takapuna.

Paul Ego tackles the warm up set with his sometimes amusing repertoire of textbook comedy.  With his self-centred approach he lives up to his name, as do most comedians (live up to his name).  He’s got his stock phrase ‘which is good’, which is adequate.  His material inevitably concerns itself with the fact that he knows he’s not the one we really came to see, and thusly serves as a perfectly flimsy excuse for being knowingly second-rate.

After the break it’s Ed’s turn.  He’s more your laid back easygoing chap alone on a concert stage talking to an audience of hundreds like we were bantering at some party.  His bright wit (e.g. in response to gay-bashing Christians: ‘I’m offended on behalf of a god I don’t even believe in!’) counterpoises the more primal hilarious truths of our existence (e.g. his ‘impromptu’ lesson on male masturbation for women).  Suffice to say he delivers what we came for most satisfactorily.

The difference between generic and classic is well defined by the comparison of Paul Ego and Ed Byrne.  Both tell stories about their experiences, both expound their opinionated views – generally of the stuff they hate, and both turn their acts inside out with self-referential observations.  Both plunder the depths of age-old topics, between them covering accents, travel, culture, politics, music, pornography, religion, sport, parenting, relationships, and wankers who drive 4wds in the city.

In short, both are standup comedians in the traditional sense.  But where Byrne is effortlessly amusing, his audience ready and willing to laugh at him saying just about anything, Ego is less charismatic and as such is only as funny as his material.  He points out himself the advantage the Irish have over we dour kiwis with their charming accents and expressive personalities (some of his best bits).

Humour can be a powerful tool for learning indeed.  However, the only fundamental criterion for comedy is that it’s funny.  The simplest of the arts (and surely most lucrative, given the low overheads), standup comedy doesn’t really even need to be reviewed beyond a yay-or-nay, but it’s the price of my ticket to do so, so I hope the rest is forgiven.

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