Steve Byrne Gets Real About Comedy

I hope that anyone that is reading this is fully aware of my brand new one hour special on Comedy Central, Steve Byrne's Happy Hour!  It took 10 long years to get there, lots of peaks and valleys, but it's in the can!  My first hour special.  It seems like just yesterday that I got to do my first half hour special on Comedy Central.  It really was 2 years.

A lot has happened in 2 years since doing the 1/2 hour.  I was on a tv show on NBC, The Real Wedding Crashers.  I got to be in my first major motion pictures, The Goods: The Don Ready Story, starring Jeremy Piven and my good friend Ken Jeong and Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon! 

But even after all that, the thing I am most proud of is this very special!  I remember being told I had 8 months to prepare for the special; then the producers said I had 4 months to prepare for it.  Now as some of you may or may not know, as a comic, I had 8 years of work and I put my best jokes into that 1/2 hour special.  Then I had 2 years to prepare a new set of jokes and not only that, but double the jokes. So, I really had my work cut out for me.  There are some jokes I absolutely love in this special and others I really have no idea what I was thinking at the time, but it seemed to work. 

This special, I have a feeling will be either loved or loathed.  I have discovered a lot about my style, especially in the last two years.  For one thing, I am just a silly goose!  I really come from the mind set that when people come to a comedy show, it should never get too heady or dark.  I think folks just want to kick off their shoes and have fun.  That is what I set out to do.  Just come up with jokes at my expense or that are so far out there, that you really can shut your brain off. 

Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of guys I love that do all sorts of other comedy and it works for them.  Serious comics, goofy comics, alternative comics, family and bio based comics.  All of it is tailored for them and their audience.  I love guys like Bill Maher, Jim Norton, Bill Burr, Demetri Martin (who at first kind of bugged me, but as I've gone on, I see how original he is and I dig it), Zach Gallahowever you spell his darn name, Nick Swardson, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dov Davidoff, Ahmed Ahmed, Colin Quinn, Sam Tripoli, there are just so many comics out there I really like, too many to name and they do what they do and I love em for it.  I am figuring out what I do and its just really ridiculous, but I love it. 

The tough thing now is to continue to keep up with new and fresh material that I hope people like!  So, it's back to the drawing board for me.  I hope this special is well received and I hit the road with tons of new jokes so when folks come out to a show, they see the jokes that they love and a bunch of new jokes that they have never heard! 

I did want to switch it up with the wardrobe too.  In my half hour special, I am too damn trendy looking.  Most of the comics on TV or on stage look like they manage an Urban Outfitters, so I wanted to go old school.  Look like a professional on stage, look like I care and I take the job somewhat seriously.  There are too many guys are in their thirties trying to look cool.  There is a time and a place to put away the designer jeans and accept your age.  Clean it up.  Look good!  So, I went old school with a Rat Pack kind of vibe with a nice suit.  It's kind of weird being in a suit in front of hundreds of people, on all fours doing a doggystyle joke. 

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the special as much as I had in making it.  I promise to keep writing and that the next one will be even better!!!

Steve Byrne

More Steve Byrne:

Steve Byrne on male and female strippers.
Steve Byrne's dream jobs