Interview: Heart Byrne
Ed Byrne chats with Victoria Nangle about mountain climbing, comic taboos & teleporting to New Zealand
How do, Ed – How’s today treating you?
Today was a good one. Woke up at a friend’s house in Frinton-on-Sea. Took some sea air with the kids. Then had lunch with my cousin somewhere in Hertfordshire then went to London to interview Al Murray for a show for Radio 4. Busy!
The new show is called ‘Outside Looking In’. That’s quite mysterious. Are you really still the outsider with such a successful career?
The title refers to the fact that, as a comic, I sometimes feel that rather than living my life the way other people do, I’m watching how people live their lives and talking about it on stage. I sometimes feel like an observer, a spectator, rather than a participant.
You’ve spent the last couple of years utilising your passion for the outdoors as a TV presenter on the likes of ‘Dangerous Roads’ and ‘Dara & Ed’s Big Adventure’. Does this translate to your home life too, with your kids seizing on adventures every school holiday?
I’m trying to get my kids into the outdoors. Camping, canoeing, hiking, skiing, all that sort of thing. At the moment they’re only very young and the trick is not to put them off by pushing them too hard. At the moment they seem pretty enthusiastic, though.
Having achieved such remarkable feats as climbing Mount Blanc – twice – what still calls to you as a challenge, if anything?
In fairness, I didn’t make it to the top of Mont Blanc the second time. That’s a mountain I’d like to tackle again. It still feels a bit like unfinished business. The ongoing challenge I’m enjoying is the Scottish Munros. There’s 282 of them and so far I’ve climbed 75. Hopefully that number will rise while I’m in Edinburgh this August.
Is there a game plan to meet it, and what is that game plan?
There’s no game plan. Having two small kids means finding the time is the hardest part. much harder than slogging up a hillside in torrential rain.
If you had a teleportation device that could only be rooted between two places in the world, but could zap you there in an instance, which two places would you connect and why?
I’m very fond of New Zealand. Its landscape is like the Scottish Highlands turned up to 15. A portal from my back garden to Arthur’s Pass in NZ would be pretty sweet.
The adventures sound marvellous. As an observational comedian you must simply be hoovering up material for each show, as you see so much of the world that so few get to observe first hand. Are there any taboos for you as to what you’ll talk about on stage, both from a personal and from an internationally political one, considering the places you go?
I used to talk more about my travels around the world. Nowadays my stuff comes from more personal stuff that happens to me. I’m more likely to get a good bit of stand up out of a visit to my doctor than a visit to a mexican wrestling match. As regards taboos, I don’t think it’s possible to write off any subject. What matters is how you tackle that subject. A comic can joke about the most horrendous subject but the joke could still have a moral centre that justifies it. Similarly, a comic could tackle something quite lightweight yet still manage to come across as an insensitive arsehole.
Do you ever get a story that burns a hole in your comedian’s pocket but you can’t find a place to use?
Not really. Sometimes an idea can be kicking around my head that takes years to turn into a usable joke. I had a story in my show Crowd Pleaser, about meeting an actor called Paul Winfield. The incident occurred in 1998. I didn’t figure out a way to make it funny until 10 years later. Similarly, there’s a story in this new show about something that happened to me in Boston back in 2004. It can sometimes take a very long time for an idea to coalesce into a usable bit of stand up. Other times, you think of an idea in the afternoon, try it out that night and BAM. Instant new bit.
What is your process for writing a new show?
I really don’t have one. See above!
As someone who is creative, what are your biggest distractions when you’re trying to write/create, and how do you battle them?
Watching TV is my greatest distraction. The main problem is I can always rationalise my TV watching as “research”.
If you could have any super power what would it be and what would be the first adventure you would have with it?
I’ve always fancied the ability to stop time. I know that if I could do it, though, I’d mainly use it for quite mundane things like cheating at quizzes and getting more sleep.
What question should I have asked you that I foolishly overlooked?
You’ve been very thorough. Congratulations!
Ed Byrne – Outside, Looking In, Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange, Friday 16 October 2015, £20.50, brightoncomedyfestival.com
