CULTURE EDITION
Ed Byrne is coming to Cambridge this month as part of a brand-new comedy tour, which explores the challenging themes of his own loss and grief 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 , upstaged Martin Sheen and Robert Downey Jr on The Graham Norton Show and demonstrated his driving skills on Top Gear . 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 . Do not attend a pub quiz with Ed Byrne, we’ve learnt, unless he’s on your team. But for all his dalliances with the world of television light entertainment, at heart Ed remains one of the world’s truly great stand-up comedians. He has been honing his craft for a remarkable 30 years now, garnering a hatful of awards and five-star reviews along the way. While he prepares to bring his 14th show, Tragedy Plus Time , to Cambridge Corn Exchange this month, audiences need to brace themselves for the rollercoaster as Ed Byrne heads into highly emotional new territory. “It’s something of a departure, and I’m slightly worried about that,” he concedes. “I’ve never really had the desire to write a show with an overly serious element, but this new show features some heart- wrenching, soul-baring stuff.” 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,” he says. “But once I started down the road, that was it… Then my main worries became how funny is it going to be and is it going to work? “The first time I performed it, it lasted over an hour, so I had to decide between cutting out funny jokes or more meaningful material. That kind of decision was new to me, and what’s really annoying is that the one person I would have asked for advice is the guy the show’s about: my brother Paul, who was a comedy director.” The genius of the show is that it’s taking the most difficult subject matter and encouraging the audience to laugh in its face. “Obviously I don’t want the whole thing to be an onslaught,” he adds. “That’s partly because of the digressions, and that’s Tragedy plus time COMEDY Interview JASON BARLOW Portrait ROSLYN GAUNT
CRYING WITH LAUGHTER Ed balances grief for his brother with comic relief in the new show
why they’re there. But they also illustrate how grief works, in that you can still have a good time, you can still be happy, you can still have a laugh about other things and be frivolous. But grief is always there waiting for you when you’re done with being silly.” Ed admits that mining his family’s bereavement for comedic effect has challenged his performing skills – and emotional bandwidth – in a unique way. “Death is universal,” he says. “So the best thing to do is laugh at it. Although I was aware, when I was writing and performing the new show, that I might lose it on stage... But I don’t want it to be the sort of thing where I rip my heart out and stamp on it for the audience’s delectation. I have been able to throttle back my emotions and keep them in check.”
Tragedy Plus Time is as moving as it is funny, and vice versa. “Is it OK to talk about this stuff? Every night, hundreds of people who didn’t know who Paul Byrne was will leave the theatre knowing what he was like. I’m happy with that. I wouldn’t say he’s up there with me, but he is when I think about the show and I’ve got to do right by him.”
Ed Byrne will be at the Corn Exchange on 13 December. For more, see edbyrne.com
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