Comic Ed Byrne bringing latest show to Waterford

Comic Ed Byrne is coming to the Theatre Royal this month, with a new show, which he says is a departure from his usual material.

A staple of revered panel show Mock the Week, Ed Byrne has also sledded down the side of a volcano for Dara and Ed’s Great Big Adventure, sat alongside Martin Sheen and Robert Downey Jr on The Graham Norton Show, and demonstrated his driving skills on Top Gear and The World’s Most Dangerous Road. 

He's also proven himself to be quiz show dynamite on the likes of The Chase: Celebrity Special, The Hit List, Pointless Celebrities and All-Star Family Fortunes. 

He has honed his craft as a stand up comic for 30 years now, and while he prepares to take his 14th show, 'Tragedy Plus Time' to Theatre Royal this month, audiences need to ready themselves because Ed Byrne says he is heading into highly emotional new territory.

“It’s something of a departure, and I’m slightly worried about that,” he concedes.

For 'Tragedy Plus Time', Ed ventures into the world of grief and loss, a decision prompted by the passing of his younger brother Paul, aged just 44, in February 2022. 

“I was in two minds about whether to do a show of this nature,” Ed explains. “Then I decided this was the subject I was going to tackle but I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. But once I started down that road, that was it."

Tragedy Plus Times takes the most difficult of subject matter and encourages the audience to laugh in its face in a way they would otherwise simply never do. 

“Obviously I don’t want the whole thing to be an onslaught,” he says. “Death is universal. We will all lose someone. So the best thing to do is laugh at it.

“Every night hundreds of people who didn’t know who Paul Byrne was will leave the theatre knowing who Paul Byrne was. I’m happy with that, and I think I give a good account of him on stage.

"I said to the audience in one of the early previews, ‘yes, it is sad. But don’t worry because the show is funny. Because believe it or not, I’m actually quite good at this.’”

Tickets for the November 17 gig at Theatre Royal are available at theatreroyal.ie