Byrne specialises in foolishness, both his own and that of others, and brings his own brand of silliness to the stage. He's great at interacting with the audience, and is well able to keep the more awkward interjectors in their place. There's no overarching theme to this show, but the structure flows well and he moves seamlessly from one topic to another. Jason is an instantly likeable character who brings a smile to the face through his antics.
And yet. I found this a curiously flat experience. Byrne has an annoying habit of laughing inanely at his own jokes in a way that disrupts his own stories. Some of the section about his wife seemed too rooted in the past. And the physical comedy when he brought two members of the audience on stage to 'punish' him felt unnecessarily puerile.
Maybe it was just me. There were plenty of people laughing uproariously, so maybe I was just missing out on the joke? Because to me this was just a bit of clowning, with little more that that on show, and lacking any real laugh-out-loud moments. All surface and no substance.
Jason Byrne : 20 Years a Clown is on in the Assembly Hall at 21.00 until the 30th.
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