The highly energetic, “intelligent lunacy” that we have come to expect from Irish comedian Jason Byrne, is back in Adelaide with his Australian tour of Jason Byrne’s Special Eye.
“Special Eye is kind of my trademark now. When I was a kid, my left eye turned down a bit. My mum used to call it my special eye and I did stuff about me as a kid living with my special eye at Live at the Apollo in England. Now in Britain, they’re like, ‘You’re the guy with the special eye!’ So I called this show Jason Byrne’s Special Eye,” explains Byrne.
Adelaide audiences can expect a frenetically paced mash-up of different comedic genres; a style which has become as much a trademark for Byrne as his special eye.
“There is lots of improv, lots of prepared stand up and then I bring in props. I also have stunts where people get up to help me out with stuff,” Byrne summarises.
“I have to do all that stuff in my show or I’ll get very bored!”
“I just think the audience have paid to get in and they deserve a really good show. A lot of comics, they just stand there and just talk, which is fine if you’re really good at it like Billy Connolly, who I always love to watch, as well as Jimeoin and Dave Hughes. They are all really good story tellers, but if you are only okay at that, and that’s all you do, then that’s pretty s**t, you know what I mean? People want more and I always give them more.”
Australian culture is a fascination for Byrne and any experience on our shores could turn into a comedy piece.
“I do mad things when I come here. So, last night I went to the Dogs, in a really rough area of Perth. It was just like, men with mullets, women with tattoos and babies just walking around. In Ireland, it’s illegal as you can’t have anybody under the age of 18 where you bet money. These people just had no problems with these kids around them. They were just like ‘yeah, whatever’. Then I was pretty sick here and I had to get a kidney stone scan, so I’ve been through that too, which was all pretty funny.
“I love coming here because I always end up collecting loads of stories and I’m absolutely delighted with everything that has been happening to me here.”
It’s been some time since Byrne was in Adelaide and in his words, “a lot of stuff” has been keeping him away.
“I was supposed to be [in Adelaide] for the Adelaide Festival in March, but I ended up doing a sitcom for BBC1 so that took from January to July. Then I went from there and I said, ‘right… I’d better get some stand up together’, so I went to the Edinburgh Comedy Festival for four weeks, so that was July to August, then basically I had a week at home before I came here. It’s just been full on!”
Stopping in Adelaide for one night only on Monday 30th September, Byrne’s fast paced and erratic but engaging stand up is something not to be missed for the connoisseur of adult comedy.
Note: Jason Byrne’s Special Eye is not Suitable for children. Contains adult themes, sexual references, and material some may find offensive.
By Bree Downs-Woolley
Jason Byrne’s Special Eye
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Grote Street, Adelaide
Season: Monday 30 September 2013
Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes
Tickets: All tickets $59.00
Bookings: Book at BASS
Photo Credit: http://www.jasonbyrne.ie/gallery/
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