Review of Jason Byrne’s Cirque Du Byrne at Perth Theatre

Sep 13 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

I FIRST came across Irish funnyman Jason Byrne at the Edinburgh Fringe some years ago and just loved his energetic and spontaneous wall-to-wall humour in which front seat audience members were willingly and unwillingly woven into his mirth-making.

With so many new acts to explore each year at the capital’s arts feast, I hadn’t renewed my acquaintance with the blond Dubliner until his Perth Theatre debut (this sell-out show proved what a good venue the theatre is for stand-up comedy acts, offering a far more intimate atmosphere than the concert hall).

Jason may have a little less hair than when I first saw him perform live, but the humour hasn’t receded and neither has his energy level: Irish dancing, skipping and X-rated one-arm press-ups contributed to a fitness workout for the performer while the audience exercised their laughter muscles.

And if Perth audiences often bear the label as a bit of a dour bunch, that certainly was not the case for Mr Byrne. He fed off the garrulous gathering like a starving man, and in return he spat out side-splitting retorts with his own fayre of observational comedy and surreal humour.

I genuinely believe this was not a ‘going through the motions’ gig for Jason, and when he skipped off stage after two hours of full-on humour I think he was indeed a happy man who had thoroughly enjoyed his Perth performance – and learned a fair bit about Perth and its history!

His act did take a dip at the end with his puerile take on the tune Popcorn, but otherwise this was a five-star show from this comedian who delivers the complete package.

Alison Anderson