10 Quick Qs – Jason Byrne
Jason Byrne is finishing up at the Ed Fringe and preparing to launch a comedy onslaught on Australia’s shores. He’s hitting most major cities with his show Special Eye (19th September – 5th October) including lovely little Adelaide on the 30th September. Tickets here.
Heckler asks him the important questions.
1. What’s the Ed Fringe been like this year?
Well, it’s my eighteenth year in a row, and it’s pretty full on. I said I wouldn’t do these four weeks again, but then I was doing this sitcom for BBC that took from January to July, and I just thought I need to do a heap of gigs before I go to Australia. So that’s basically why I did it. But you can’t stay here too long, it’ll rip you limb from limb if you’re not careful. All you need to do is do your gig and then walk out that door straight into your apartment, because there are thousands of fucking acts here and you just bump into your mates all the time. “Ah, come and have a pint” – and before you know it it’s 3 am.
2. What food do you most miss from Ireland when you’re on tour?
Well the only thing I would miss food-wise would be sausages. Fucking Irish sausages are just fucking beautiful, especially when they’re fried with egg and everything. But now I’m on a big health buzz so I don’t really have them at all now.
3. Tell us about your TV show. If it’s not showing in Australia should we illegally download it?
You should be able to illegally download it, yeah, sure. I’d say they will put it on Australian TV, but it goes up mid-September in Britain. It’s called Father Figure, and I’m a stay-at-home dad, that’s the idea. Basically in Britain and Ireland, with the recession, a lot of people gave up their work. One half would go, “Right, look, we can’t both afford to work and put the kids in child care so one of us has to give it up.” So that’s what the show’s about;– well it’s not really fucking heavy about that because it’s only a sitcom so it’s only a background. Basically it’s me looking after kids, trying to run the house, and I’m given a small task to do and then it explodes into a big task. It has nice little quirky bits to it, so I think that’s what’ll make it stand out, you know the nice little quirky bits I put in.
4. How much of your material do you just steal from your kids?
Well I used to steal quite a lot by my thirteen-year-old, but he’s too old now, he doesn’t say a lot of funny things any more. So he’s done. But one of his greatest lines ever came from Australia, the pope had died, and he was laying in red robes, and my son went, “Oh my god, look dad, santa is dead.” It was so great.
5. What’s your favourite stereotype about Australians that turned out to be true?
See the thing that makes it weird for Australians is a lot of the stereotypes are not true. The only thing that’s ever come true is that you go on about the sun a little too fucking much. It’s the only country I’ve been where you’re not allowed to sunbathe. I was on a beach in Adelaide and this guy came up to me and he told me to put my top back on because I was too white.
You know the one about Australians being big drinkers? They’re not. It’s so funny that one. You drink half the amounts an Irish person drinks. Australians are actually quite healthy, probably because they’re going on about cancer every five seconds.
6. If Cirque du Byrne were a cocktail how would you make it?
A sprinkle of volunteers from the audience, a quarter shot of props, and a full measure of skipping ropes. Two and a half litres of limes, shake it all together, a little bit of crushed ice. I’d serve it in a top hat and stick an elephant in.
7. Your last show was pretty ambitious – I saw you saw a person in half, obviously you were consulted for Now You See Me – what’s the most experimental thing you’re debuting for your new show Special Eye?
The opening is I come out on a space hopper. And then I get one person up to do a little routine with me, but eventually I have seven guys up on stage with me, all from the audience, and it’s fucking funny because at least two people fall over.
8. What’s your favourite internet indulgence?
Snatch Wars. It’s Star Wars, right, but Darth Vader’s voiced by Brick Top. I put it on Twitter, Facebook, everywhere telling people you have to see this.
9. Is heckling allowed?
At my shows? Yeah but they don’t tend to heckle. They know that I start asking the audience questions myself and start talking to them, so it’s just kind of pointless to heckle. But in Australia you never heckle. You never ever heckle. So let’s have more of that.
10. You’ve been a big name in comedy for a while. Are there any upcoming comedians that Australians should know about?
Bo Burnham, he is hilarious.
