ONE of the UK's favourite comics will be coming to Chester as part of his brand new show, which has gotten rave reviews at Edinburgh's Fringe festival.

Ed Byrne will bring Tragedy Plus Time - which takes its name from a quote attributed to Mark Twain - to Storyhouse on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.

With his TV career now in its third decade, Ed has regularly appeared on the likes of QI, Mock The Week, Alan Davies As Yet Untitled, The Pilgrimage, Dara and Ed’s Road to Mandalay, Dara & Ed’s Big Adventure, The Graham Norton Show and Have I Got News For You, as well as hosting Live At The Apollo and Comic Relief Bake Off.

He was recently seen as a contestant on BBC One’s Celebrity Best Home Cook (where he made it to show 5 out of 8 – not bad!) and he has also won (yes, won!) celebrity versions of both The Chase and Pointless!

Chester and District Standard: 'Tragedy Plus Time' poster (Image: Rosyln Gaunt).'Tragedy Plus Time' poster (Image: Rosyln Gaunt). (Image: Rosyln Gaunt)

The Irishman says that Tragedy Plus Time features his most personal material to date, with him stepping out of his comfort zone to great effect.

Of the new show, Tragedy Plus Time, Ed said: "It’s something of a departure, and I’m slightly worried about that. I’ve never really had the desire to write a show that had an overly serious element to it. I got a lot of five-star reviews on the last show [2019’s If I’m Honest], but some four-star ones that opined, ‘well it’s funny, but that’s all it is…’ As if that’s not enough these days. Frankly, just being funny is a furrow I’ve been happy to occupy. But this new show features some heart-wrenching, soul-bearing stuff."

The new show illuminates the humour and levity in experiences of grief and loss, a topic which takes considerable creative courage to explore and was prompted by the passing of the comic's younger brother, Paul, at just 44 in February 2022.

"I was in two minds about whether to do a show of this nature," Ed explains. "Then I decided this was the subject I was going to tackle but I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. But once I started down that road, that was it… Then my main worry was, how funny is it going to be and is it going to work?"

Well, the verdict appears to be very funny, as it has become his best reviewed show at the prestigious Fringe festival.

Rolling Stone gives Tragedy Plus Time five stars, saying: "Hilarious, extremely dark, profoundly touching and resolutely unsentimental. Ed Byrne has plumbed the very depths of his soul and found something verging on greatness."

The London Evening Standard gives the same score, adding: "A fantastically funny and moving monologue where there is no doubt that we are seeing the authentic Ed… Byrne has hit new heights."

More information about Ed's performance at Storyhouse is available at: https://www.storyhouse.com/whats-on/ed-byrne-tragedy-plus-time/

For other dates, see: https://edbyrne.com/live-dates/