Ed Byrne

Infobox Comedian


Influences = Billy Connolly, Bill Hicks
name = Ed Byrne
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|04|10
birth_place = Swords, Dublin, Ireland
occupation = comedian

Ed Byrne (born 10 April, 1972 in Swords, Dublin) is a Perrier Award-nominated, Irish stand up comedian and voice over artist. He has presented television shows "Uncut! Best Unseen Ads" and "Just For Laughs", and is a regular guest on various television panel games.

He is an Edinburgh Fringe favourite and has performed six sell-out shows at the Festival, not to mention three sell-out tours across the UK.Byrne has also been warmly received abroad, performing to huge audiences in Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand and the US. His chatty style of observational comedy and colourful anecdotes appeals to most audiences and he's pretty smart with it to, occasionally veering off into innovative ideas and threads. cite web| url=http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/artist/comedy-1524/ed-byrne-18071/ | publisher=Spoonfed.co.uk| title=Ed Byrne }]

Career

Byrne had presented television shows "Uncut! Best Unseen Ads" and "Just For Laughs", and is a regular guest on "The Panel", "HeadJam", Channel 4 comedy quiz "8 Out of 10 Cats" and BBC Two's "Mock the Week". He also made a few appearances on "Have I Got News for You" and is due to appear on "The Unbelievable Truth" a second time, having appeared once.

Stand-up comedy

In 1998, Ed was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival.

In 2006 he toured the UK, recording a DVD in Leeds, entitled "Pedantic and Whimsical". He has also appeared in "Father Ted", and is also known for being the voice of the Carphone Warehouse adverts. On February 3, 2007 Byrne appeared on a comedians special edition of "The Weakest Link".

Byrne has performed six sell-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs (including 2004) and three sell-out UK tours. He has also developed huge success on the international circuit where he has performed to capacity audiences in Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Ed has since garnered a raft of major broadcast credits, including five US appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien (NBC).

Current projects

Ed featured in a series of comedy shorts on the MSN Video Channel [http://specials.uk.msn.com/edbyrne/] in which he discusses some of his pet hates, including "occasional smokers", and his girlfriend's snoring.

In 2001 Ed was the main character in an RTÉ-produced sitcom entitled "The Cassidys". It was cancelled after one series.

During his latest tour of New Zealand, at the conclusion of his Christchurch performance on 14 May 2007, he announced his engagement the previous day to his girlfriend.

In July 2007, Ed made his debut at the Newbury Comedy Festival, having participated in the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny shortly before.

Ed Byrne will perform at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in 2008.

Personal life

On the episode of "The Panel" broadcast 7 January 2008, Byrne mentioned that he would be getting married in June.He is now married.

Books

* "Sit-Down Comedy" (contributor to anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ISBN-10: 0091889243; ISBN-13: 978-0091889241

External links

* [http://www.edbyrne.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/artist/comedy-1524/ed-byrne-18071/ Ed Byrne profile on Spoonfed.co.uk]
* [http://www.suchsmallportions.com/allnew/uk_comedy/pages/live_just-the-tonic-bloomsbury.html Ed Byrne live at UCL Bloomsbury, May 2008, review from suchsmallportions.com]
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* [http://comedy.cqdweb.co.uk/ed_byrne.htm Profile, from Comedy Laid Bare]
* [http://www.edcomfest.com/shows/Ed_Byrne_Different_Class Ed Byrne at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival 2008]