Byrne Notice
Taking time out from a stay-cation funnyman Jason Byrne talks about his love of Ikea, channelling David Copperfield and sharing the stage with a naked PJ Gallagher.
Paul Nolan, 04 Sep 2012
“I didn’t really react, I just went, ‘Oh, there’s P.J. in the nip’. He just kept brushing and that was it, I continued on. It did bring the house down. But I don’t mind people doing that stuff to me, ‘cos I quite like it. Other comics wouldn’t know what to do, they’d start getting all fucking precious. In Edinburgh that’s all we ever did to each other – try and ruin each other’s shows.”
During Byrne’s gala slot at the Melbourne Comedy Festival earlier this year, he recreated one of David Copperfield’s ‘illusions’, which involved the ‘magician’ being levitated. The similarities in Jason’s act, though, were largely confined to the comic copying Copperfield’s atrocious hair and wearing the same kind of black outfit. The levitation part of the act was achieved through the simple act of having a group of guys from the audience hoist Byrne in the air.
“That was great,” he enthuses. “It was the only time I’ve ever done it – I can’t do it again in the live show, ‘cos that was for TV. Beforehand, they had to get the five guys who carried me to sign something saying, ‘Will you carry Jason?’, in case I’d snap my back. And I never met those fellas – I never want to meet them, because otherwise it’s not as funny. They were just five random guys; I think one of them was a carpenter, another was an electrician and so on. But I’d have to get people to sign every night. At the moment, I’m working on an end stunt like that – it was just hilarious.”
Jason Byrne plays the Seapoint Leisure Centre on July 26 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Catch him every Monday from 10am to noon on Phantom 105.2fm
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