Jason Byrne, Irish comedy's favourite ginger nut, returns for another marathon hometown show on Sunday June 11th in Vicar St. Last time round, this little soiree was a totally sold out affair and a very memorable occasion for Jason.
"We had a sketch where Gay Byrne was presenting Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? with Ronan Keating answering baby! to every question," enthuses Byrne. "It was only supposed to take a minute or two and it ended up lasting at least fifteen minutes, mainly because we were laughing at PJ (Paddy Courtney) doing his midget Gay Byrne thing with a pair of shoes at his knees.
The crowd went absolutely mental that night, I did over two hours and they still wanted more, Byrne continues. Half of Ballinteer was there, so that was a laugh. You know the way you haven't seen someone since school, and their face looks like it s been squashed onto someone else's body? Well there was a lot of that, what happened to you!!!??? My crowd seem to turn into a load of hyperactive fuckers who have eaten far too much chocolate. There should be a safety announcement on the way in you are going to come out of this show like a spaced out zombie . There should be coppers out on the road getting the traffic to slow down.
"We are going to sell donk sticks at the next gig," adds Jason.
Ehhh what???
"I can't tell you what they are because they will become the thing. In years to come, everyone will be saying that they got their first donk stick at a Jason Byrne show. Then they just stare at it and go what the fuck am I going to do with that? Either that or I could give everyone a wedgie on the way out "
Jason has been noted for his high stamina approach to live engagements, with shows running as long as three or four hours such as his legendary Christmas Special in the Norseman a few years back.
"That was my first ever long gig," raves Jason. "The Mexican Pets were down that night and we had a great laugh. I even supported them in Limerick and they were nervous about going on after me, which is totally crazy because you'd expect a rock crowd to be throwing things at the comedian. I suppose I'm another frustrated musician, except I can't play anything!"
So what live musical act is the Jason Byrne stand-up extravagana closest to?
"I suppose there is a bit of James Brown in me, in the way he does four songs in seven hours! Funny thing is, though, if you went to see REM or James Brown or whoever, everyone goes gaga when they play an old song. When a comedian does an old joke they get slaughtered we heard that one last week write something new now. People are always giving out about comedians doing the same material! With my stuff, when I write something people go eehh it s alright but I much prefer it when you make shit up. So my shows are just one big, long, happy, making shit-up-session which is great!
More big, long, happy, making-shit-up sessions are on the cards for another Byrne assault on Edinburgh this August.
"As Tommy showed, the only way to get out of the bloody place is to win the Perrier to get your plane ticket home. But Edinburgh is cool, and I'm very lucky in that I have a good Scottish fanbase so it s good for the money. A lot of acts and shows do it purely for promotion and publicity which ends up costing them, so it s wonderful to be able to do it. I love working and gigging in London, but I don't want to live there so it'll be nice to be based here. I did a very strange thing for RTE about Ballinteer. Usually they are afraid of me, but when I said I can only do it if I can go fucking mental they were fine! Maybe I'll do the Late Late yet. No, tell you what, I'll be Pat Kenny's hair for the night. Or else Winning Freak I'd love to do that show. There is always some fat old freak with his head on backwards."
Apart from a helter-skelter, jam-packed schedule of making-shit-up sessions, Jason is soon to be a proud father.
"Yeah, I'm having a baby! It s mad the way blokes go we're having a baby! . Brenda looks at me going oh we! We're having a baby! Haven't seen you look sick in the last three months! If Ronan Keating delivers the child obviously he/she would have to be called Ronan. If it s really small and gay looking we'll call it Stephen, and if it has a gap in its teeth and a few videos to sell, its Keith."
Jason Byrne plays Vicar St. on Sunday June 11th.