Jason Byrne is a name that is synonymous with the Edinburgh Festival. Selling out show for the last eleven years is no easy feat, but Byrnes is still as funny and popular as he has ever been, which makes ‘Telly ideas which may also work on the radio’ all the more disappointing. Essentially a day-time game show that isn’t a million miles away from a poor man’s ‘Have I got news for you’, Byrnes acts as game show host with 4 other comedians having to guess the answer to multiple choice questions and having to invent imaginary television shows. The problem lies in that Jason Byrne is a wonderful comedian when performing stand-up but isn’t much good as a host. Mumbling and desperately trying to squeeze out laughs from everything around him, when he shouts out to the audience if there are any Muslims in tonight then it’s clear that something has gone very wrong.
It’s amusing in places but the game show quite simply doesn’t work and it is not helped by the totally unsuitable room it’s held in, with uncomfortable chairs and a sound system that means only the first six rows of the audience can clearly hear every word. The games are over-long and, though it’s clear the comedians are all having a ball shouting things at one another, they don’t seem to realize how bored the audience is.
Tedious is never a word that should be used to describe the wonderful Jason Byrnes but this show really is poor. Please don’t give up your day job Jason.
2/5
Martin Miller
