Irish comedian Ed Byrne has made a lengthy (is it really 30 years?) career out of his easy-going and occasionally whimsical brand of observational comedy, but his latest show is as personal as he’s ever been. Recent routines have seen him reflecting more on his own life – largely by telling increasingly maligned (“I read the Twitter feedback”) stories about his kids after becoming a relatively old dad – but Tragedy Plus Time takes things in a much darker direction, as he attempts to find humour in the biggest tragedy to befall him, the death last year of his younger brother Paul.

The show’s title comes from the Mark Twain, or more likely Steve Allen, quote about the definition of comedy, and ostensibly poses the question of how long you have to wait before a tragic topic becomes suitable inspiration for humour. And if you think 18 months is too soon then you should know that Byrne’s show isn’t the first to feature routines about his late sibling – a number of other comedians had already beaten him to it. Which would be preposterous if not for the fact that each was doing it in tribute to the late comedy director that helped guide their careers.

None of them have the history or material his elder brother has to work with of course, which ranges from lengthy, and often pathetic arguments – the siblings didn’t speak for 12 months, mercifully reconciled not long before Paul passed – to moments of high farce at the deathbed and crematorium. Humour and heartbreak collide head on when Byrne recalls his brother’s final hours – a scene that can’t be easy to recall night after night – but relieved by one of a number of terrific call backs that are a feature of this beautifully-constructed performance.

Most importantly, it is very, very funny. Byrne is a master at drifting off at loosely-connected tangents to plant phrases or punchlines that pay off later, and there are few better at the exasperated old man routine – elevated to the next level when he dials up, and spews out, his pent-up anger at a range of random targets, whether that’s Covid deniers, Chiswick or James Corden.

And while I’d advise caution about some of the show’s content and pitch-black humour – it climaxes with what Byrne claims is “the darkest joke I’ve ever told” – it contains moments, as well as an overall message, with genuine emotional heft.

4 stars (if Ed Byrne is reading this, 5 if not).

Reviewed by Steve Adams at Warwick Arts Centre on Friday 13 October. Ed Byrne also plays Redditch Palace Theatre on 18 October, Worcester Huntingdon Hall Town Hall on 18 October, and Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on 15 November, Birmingham Town Hall on 9 February 2024, Dudley Town Hall on 11 May 2024 and the Albany Theatre, Coventry on 23 May 2024