Review for Jason Byrne's Special Eye

Jason Byrne is one of those new bright sparks in stand up comedy and it seems that thanks to things like Mock the Week and the various stand up shows that not a week goes by that I don't hear of a new amazing comedian.

Byrne is one of those great Irish comedians who spouts a flurry of expletives and yet still sounds like he is speaking lyrical poetry. His act is more or less 'remember when' material about his family, life and experiences which is nice, but is very reminiscent of every other Irish comedian. This is not to say that it is not funny. It is. In fact there were times I had to pause the show just to stop myself from laughing, only to do it again a few moments later. It would actually be nice to go see him live especially with al the audience interaction. However, this does become one of the downfalls of this show.

When I spoke of the recent Alan Davies' show I mentioned that what made him so great was the lack of gimmicks and really that became my problem with Byrne. The start of his show was probably funny for the crowd who saw it live, but not to me. However, when he picked up his mic he did what he had to do. His use of set pieces reminded me of some of the things Tommy Cooper would do, but after a while it did get too much and I just wanted to hear the stories and not have to wait for another audience member to come on stage. As I say, I'm sure live this would be amazing and everyone would want to be involved, but this doesn't translate well for me at home.

Extras includes a number of deleted scenes (again as with the Davies' DVD why not just include them?). The only thing I can conclude from them is that it was cut for time, because they are certainly as funny, if not in some cases funnier. Any Single People? which becomes almost his attempt to match-make is the funniest thing on the whole thing. Access All Areas is a behind the scenes piece which is fine, but it does take away some of the magic that it is all made up and not all planned.

Jason Byrne' Special Eye will be a great disk to get for fans. It shows just why he is one of the hottest stand ups at the moment. I do feel that it loses something on home viewing and maybe with repeat viewing it will work better, but it did feel a little strange. That is not to say that it isn't funny. It is and if you want to watch some funny material then it is here, just be warned there is a lot of oddball and silly stuff that you may have to get through.