Jason Byrne tells MARION SAUVEBOIS that torturing his audience is just one of his favourite stage tricks

DISCLAIMER: This is an account of an interview with Jason Byrne not to be confused with his countryman and accidental namesake Ed Byrne.

This forewarning may seem a tad patronising but in light of the case of mistaken identity which recently gripped the Twittersphere, well Ed and Jason’s accounts anyway, the distinction between the Irish comics bears repeating.

To sum up, FHM interviewed Jason Byrne, FHM was under the impression Jason was in fact his friend Ed, FHM plonked a photo of Ed above Jason’s Q&A. To add insult to injury it turns out it wasn’t their first time mixing up the two men in print. Needless to say Ed wasn’t best pleased; Jason was pretty amused at the whole malarkey.

“People never get us mixed up ever that’s why it was so stupid and Ed was so furious,” says Jason in fits of giggles. “Ed and I are mates from years and years but we have nothing in common on stage.

“And then for FHM to push it as far as saying, ‘Ed I think you’re wrong, you’ll see that your picture is at the top of this’ and Ed going ‘Are you serious?’ Not only that but I never tell the truth in Q&As anyway. So Ed was going, ‘What’s up with this Q&A?’”

As well as lying through his teeth during Q&As (we cannot therefore vouch for anything stated in this interview) his many hobbies includes torturing his audience. Or so it seems if the contraptions he lures them to on stage are anything to go by. Audience participation reaches new levels of lunacy where Byrne is concerned.

“I’ve never injured anybody,” he assures me. “I’d get bored if I just told stories all the time. So I do things to keep myself interested.

“The craziest thing I’ve done is attach a guy to one of those things you get in a carnival when you hit this thing with a big hammer it shoots up and hits the bell. I had one built and I had a guy on it and the thing you hit went up between his legs. He had to answer all these questions and depending on how honest he was his wife would hit it. He was also 15ft in the air on a crane. It’s only fun. It’s never really bad.”

Despite the show’s title, 20 Years A Clown is not a wistful stroll down memory lane crammed with sentimental tales of the ebb and flow of his career. Instead it’s a celebration of sorts, and a chance for audiences to get their own backs as Byrne is on stage, strapped to his newest invention/ instrument of torment.

Throw in S&M-style spanking and electric shocks and you might just get a picture of what awaits him on his anniversary tour.

“I get the audience up on stage and do terrible things to them in my shows so it’s their chance to get their revenge on me,” he adds magnanimous. “I invented this thing: it’s this wire shaped into the outline of my body. It’s absolutely impossible to describe. The whole thing involves me getting painfully hit with a leather paddle.

“I’m not doing stories of the last 20 years but I’ll be delving in and out of different things using props and stunts.”

Unlike many of his peers, Jason Byrne never aspired to gig, favouring the security of “proper job.”

“I was worse than my parents I was like, ‘It’s not a proper job, can’t do that’. I had a good job as an electrician for theatre and stage lighting; I enjoyed working in the warehouse. Then I started doing open spots just for fun. I just kept getting more and more work out of it and I didn’t have time to do my proper job anymore. It went on and on and on.”

His exuberance and assurance went a long way to win over spectators.

“I have a lot of confidence,” he adds matter-of-factly. “As a comic you have to think you’re hilarious otherwise you won’t be able to go up on stage. It’s like in a fight . You can’t have self doubt and go into the ring thinking this guy is going to beat the s**t out of you.”

A little introspection seems de rigueur as he marks two decades sailing the fickle waters of the comedy circuit. At the mention of a highlight, or pinnacle in his career, he launches into a touching and rather unexpected story.

“At Edinburgh at the end of August this woman was at a gig in the front row and her husband was outside because the show was sold out. I thought, ‘I feel terrible now’. This seat was empty in the front row so I asked these people to move over and I said go and get your husband. He sat down and it turned out he had lung cancer. They were supposed to go to Cyprus but he was too ill to fly, that’s why they were here. It was an amazing moment. That’s quite a highlight in my head.

“What I do for a living cheers people up. It makes them forget about the bad stuff that’s happened.”

The tours, accolades and other trappings of fame clearly have not ruined him. Even if they had threatened to he would have immediately been knocked back down to earth by his “normal friends”.

“When I do shows they come into my dressing room and start drinking my beer and eating my food."Most of the time they won’t even go out and watch me, they’ll just sit there and watch TV in the room.

“They don’t give a s**t if you’re a comedian or famous.”

Jason Byrne is at the Wyvern Theatre on Saturday, November 21. For more information go to swindontheatres.co.uk.