Comedy review: Ed Byrne: If I'm Honest, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Ed Byrne: If I'm Honest, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh * * *
He’s in his forties now, with young boys and a life as settled as that of a travelling comic can ever be. But he’s still rocking the red lame showbiz jacket and he’s gambolling around the stage, giving it all the energy he can. There’s an issue, once you are big enough to sell out a room like the Assembly Rooms Ballroom, with how to cast yourself as an underdog.
Comedy, Byrne explains, should really be about punching up and not down. It’s a point that might be slightly lost on this crowd, who are not natural comedy fans, and weirdly applaud a lot of the jokes instead of laughing at them. But Byrne carries us with him, with self deprecating schtick about families, relationships, getting older and not being a superhero.
He deserves credit for not wanting his boys to grow up to be terrible men – and he is very funny on internet warriors who are convinced straight middle class white males are some kind of oppressed minority. They may not laugh much but the crowd audience reward his warmth and energy with rapturous applause.
Until 25 August