Ed Byrne is one of the strongest observational comics around. Instinctively sensing the ridiculous in everything, he dresses sharp social satire in throwaway banter, belying the talent that's gone into the writing.

For beneath the Irish insouciance, the material is crisp and efficient - observations lesser comics might stretch a two-minute routine out of are efficiently despatched with a devastating, and hilarious, one-line that sums it all up.

His set is based firmly in the everyday. It's about smoking and dentists and mobile phones and affectionate nicknames. True, the things he says might have crossed many a mind before his, but his skill is to expresses it with a wit and eloquence few others can master. That he comes across as a friendly, honest-to-goodness sound bloke is no hinderance, either

It all goes to make Byrne a classy, assured stand-up who continues to lead the field in what he does.