Byrne is on fire

When Jason Byrne performed this show at this year's Edinburgh Festival, he held court in the large, 750-odd seater Assembly Hall. There, despite his maniacally physical energy, he could only just reach those sitting in the rafters - who probably felt even more distanced when Byrne spent a big chunk of his set working the crowd at the front, albeit brilliantly.

In the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory, though, this flame-haired stand-up is electrifying, punctuating all of his Everyman observations and stories - battle of the sexes, kids do the silliest things (don't look for clues in the title) - with accents, impressions and cartoonish frippery that make him such a warm and commanding presence on stage.

But, as expected from a man who is such a great circuit compere, he's at his best free-styling off audience responses, cleverly tagging a story or some off-the-wall repartee to almost every gormless and fearful reply he encounters. It takes a clever comic to make an audience believe that they're as funny as the man on stage, and in that regard, Byrne is as gracious as they come.

Until Sat, Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre, 51-53 Southwark Street SE1, 8pm, £12.50.
Tel: 020 7907 7060.

Jason Byrne Live!
The Menier Chocolate Factory
Southwark Street, SE1 1RU