Jason Byrne: Shy Pigs, with Wigs, Hidden in Twigs

Published Wednesday 15 August 2007 at 13:20 by Ben Dowell

Nothwithstanding the baffling and utterly irrelevant show title, Jason Byrne is clearly a master at the top of his game and it is no surprise that he is selling-out at one of Edinburgh’s biggest venues.

There really is probably nothing in the world this man’s fertile mind can’t suck every ounce of humour from, whether it is the style of brollie various people from the rain soaked audience came in with with to the utterances of his young son at home or in the supermarket check-out. A cheerful anarchy reigns supreme, a seething mass of goodwill and laughter, and he never needs to turn nasty, bringing the house down with superb timing and judgement by simply asking people to shout out novel ways to describe sexual intercourse, messing around with a disastrously bad magic trick or responding to a strange sound or laugh from his captivated crowd. The final rapturous and rousing skit involved his descriptions of his appearance at the Royal Variety Show, talking to Take That, meeting the Prince of Wales and coming on after Meatloaf. He spins it all into pure gold and leaves everyone feeling much better about the world and themselves. Effortless and classy.