HE IS the barely-in-control master of audience mockery and mayhem. He fires on all cylinders from the moment he bounds onto stage. He has been through real trauma with the breakup of his 20-year marriage, but comic genius Jason Byrne is ‘Wrecked but Ready’.
The high-octane Dublin comedian has just completed another massive run of gigs at the Edinburgh Fringe and is on his way to Galway for the Vodafone Comedy Carnival in October. The biggest selling comedian at the Scottish festival, Byrne’s inspired, original, brand of high-energy, intelligent lunacy ensures there are few comedians like him and his sell out shows have attracted accolades including the coveted Perrier newcomer Award Nomination and the Perrier Award nomination.
Byrne has been a regular on Live at the Apollo, Dave’s One Night Stand, John Bishop’s Only Joking, RTÉ 2's Anonymous, and Ireland’s Got Talent, where he became the first judge to accidentally hit the Golden Buzzer during an audition, sending the act straight to the semi-finals.
As he told Channel 4: "We had an act on, near the start of the auditions, and they weren't great but I wanted to see the end of it. And Michelle, Louis, and Denise, had all pressed their buttons...so Louis Walsh was trying to hit my button to stop it. So I put my arm around my buzzer, but I also put my leg up to stop, and I hit the Golden Buzzer with my knee. And it went off, and glitter went everywhere...
"And I thought it was part of his act. I had never seen the Golden Buzzer go off and I was like, 'Oh that's good, that bit', and they're going, 'No you idiot, you put him through to the semi-finals'. I was called in afterwards, into a room, and they said, 'Jason, this show is on in 30-whatever countries, it's been on for so many years, you were the first human in the world to hit that button by accident'."
With Jason, anything can and will happen. It’s that sense of stepping into the unknown, of watching a comedian The Times described as "The outright king of comedy" go off on wildly hilarious tangents while delivering joyous comedy that keeps audiences coming back every year.
Jason Byrne - Wrecked But Ready is in the Black Box Theatre on Sunday October 27 as part of Vodafone Comedy Carnival 2019. Doors are at 7pm. For tickets go to www.vodafonecomedycarnival.com
