Jason Byrne – Live Review – Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield

By @Steve Crabtree, October 2017

The Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield is absolutely packed. It’s the return of comedian Jason Byrne to this great venue, and there are many people here in the crowd tonight who’ve returned to see him again, because his last show here was so incredible.

The Irishman is on his extensive ‘Man With Three Brains’ tour, and said brains kick into action when he hits the stage. His left brain scans the audience and room looking for improv moments. His right brain collates stand-up material and stunts, poised to dish out the funnies at speed; and his centre brain is Jason’s coach, pushing him to the limit.

So, it’s going to be an interesting one to see how he gets these brains in to gear, and what lies ahead.

“Rapturous”

He’s welcomed with a rapturous reception by the audience, and Byrne is visibly happy to be back. He remembers his last show at the LBT quite vividly, so much so he amazingly recognises two members of the audience in the front row; and another in the circle.

We’ve got a 40-minute first half act before the interval, and a full hour afterwards; but straight away Byrne is bouncing off the audience, picking people out (theatre staff too!), mimicking them and quickly making us a full-on part of his act.

And subtly but surely his three brains are out in full force.

By the interval, his act has only been made up of two topics, but such is the quick-fire humour and wild on-subject tangents he goes on, it’s been varied and there’s a great vibe in the audience. We’ve loved the first half.

“Crazy”

My friend and I notice that he is enjoying the gig as much as the rest of us, we’re laughing at him and he’s laughing at us – and the resulting atmosphere is fantastic.

As the second half of the show starts, he calls his old friends from last year up on to the stage, along with a couple of others to wow us with some impromptu magic… hilarious and just as crazy as the rest of his show.

And again, he’s only hitting us with a few comical topics, some very personal, but making a solid act out of it to let the final hour of the show absolutely fly by.

He tells us that he loves Huddersfield. He thinks us inhabitants are crazy, but he loves it here and he’s going to come back again. And on the basis of this show, so will my friend and I when he returns to our neck of the woods next time.

What a great night, and what a great show. A solid, five star performance.

images: Steve Ullathorne