Can you recall a gig so bad, it’s now funny?
A corporate gig for a financial reporting company. It was so bad, I was supposed to do 20 minutes but think I did eight. In my defence, it felt like half an hour, so that’s value! I said to them: “I’m going to go, because either I’m a terrible comedian or you’re a terrible audience. I’ve been a comedian for 25 years. How long have you been an audience?” Which I thought was a nice parting dig. Then I went off and the organiser said: “OK, fair enough. But you’ve got to go back on and do the charity auction.”
Best heckle?
It was in 1997, a hot November night in Sydney, no air in the room. I got nominated for the Perrier with a show called A Night at the Opera, but this night it just wasn’t flying. This woman who was half asleep opened one eye and just went: “Blah, blah, blah.” It was something about the silence with which that was met. Nobody cheered for her but nobody booed either. It just hung in the air.
Any preshow rituals?
After getting to the venue early for the sound check, I try to find the best pub in the area and order hopefully a pint of something relatively local or relatively interesting. There are some towns in the UK that simply do not have a decent pub to their name and that’s when you get thwarted.
What’s your current show, Tragedy Plus Time, about?
It is an examination of the idea that comedy can be defined as tragedy plus time, and is done through the examination of a particular tragedy in my life, which happened two years ago, which was the death of my little brother. It sounds pretty depressing, but it’s a very funny show.
Does it take a toll talking about something so personal night after night?
What’s very weird about it and what I discovered very early on is that I can, if I choose to, almost not listen to myself as I’m talking. On the first three shows I cried every time because the material was new and it was all very emotional for me. One night, the audience didn’t really feel onboard and I didn’t shed one tear. I just did a soulless, emotionless run-through of the show for them. I found that I could, if I needed to, detach myself from the show. But the better the audience, the more emotional I get.
Any bugbears from the world of comedy?
I am slightly concerned about how polarised the scene is becoming. We seem to be splintering into this weird woke versus anti-woke factionalism that I find quite sad. When I became a comedian, I really felt I’d found my tribe. I enjoyed the camaraderie of comedy and the fact that you can completely disagree with somebody, but we all felt like outsiders and misfits. Now it just feels like a lot of comedians are spending a lot of time talking about what other comedians are doing rather than just trying to be funny.
Do you think there’s enough TV opportunities today for new comedians?
There was an explosion of panel shows in the 90s that were fairly rubbish. It became slightly over-saturated, and they became a byword for crap light entertainment television. Then when Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats came along, it really hit that the panel show was the most efficient comedy delivery system. Before Live at the Apollo, there was still the idea that standup didn’t really work on mainstream TV and that the panel show was the best way to get comedians on TV and have them be funny.
I’ve been in the industry so long there’s no point asking me what my advice is for young comedians. I think apart from Taskmaster, there isn’t a show any more that can make a career in the old way that TV used to, so everybody’s moving online. I’m doing it myself. I’ve paid a woman 20 years younger than me to chop up my old DVDs and stick them out on Instagram and TikTok in 30-second chunks.
Worst advice you’ve ever been given?
Early on, when I was on the dole, I was disappointed to not get to the final of So You Think You’re Funny. People were so philosophical: “You’re young. It’s all ahead of you. Enjoy the journey.” But I was fucking broke. I wanted to work and thought: I’ll enjoy the journey after I start making a living. I did enjoy it eventually, but at the time that was not useful advice.
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
Talk less. Comedy is a people business and you do well to not annoy other people.
• Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time is on tour
