There was a real sense of anticipation as we approached the Assembly Rooms for this gig. Ed Byrne has long deserved clown legend status – if not quite clown royalty most certainly titled and definitely invited to all the weddings.

There had been an Ed shaped hole at the Fringe for the last few years and whilst we were thrilled to have him back you had to ask yourself “would he be rusty?“, “is he still THAT good?“… within seconds all of those fears were put to rest as this was a comedy powerhouse back on stage and he came out swinging!

Our clown walked out on stage looking like he’d never been away, the only slight difference was that now, instead of the usual suit, he was wearing a textured metallic red jacket that looked a little bit like something Santa would wear if he ever decided to become a pimp!

‘Dad fashion’ can be a curious thing (calling it “fire” didn’t help) but whilst being a father may not have helped his wardrobe it has certainly not affected his material. Our clown has managed to maintain his style and flow whilst changing the conversation to include his new worlds of schools, bullies, other parents and of course his own children – Cosmo and Magnus (great names by the way).

His reflections on being a husband and father are easy to relate to even if you are neither but the best line may originally have been said by one of his children – “and then he died and went up to heaven where god punched him in the face!” Ed is quite right that there is not an action movie made that wouldn’t be vastly improved by that ending.

This was his last show of the Fringe 2019 but only the start of a tour that I can highly recommend you catch if it passes through a town near you. This clown is older, wiser, genuinely seems happy with his place in the world and, if I’m honest, the material was pure fire and this show was lit!… and that is how you correctly use those words 🙂

Clown Stars: * * * * *

 @Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh