IN HIS five decade broadcasting career, Gay Byrne was "the man who changed Ireland". On both his RTÉ morning radio show and the weekly Late Late Showhe introduced Ireland to modernity – and stood back to witness the brawl.
From senior politicians to senior clergy to the brightest stars in the Hollywood firmament, he has been a confessor figure to the good, the bad and the ugly.
At 77, he's now in happy semi-retirement but last night at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght, he debuted his new one-man show Gay Byrne – Live On Stage, an exhilarating two-hour-plus show in which he talks about all the extraordinary moments he has witnessed or been at the centre of.
Snazzily dressed in a tuxedo and with a stage set that resembles a living room, what impresses most about Byrne is his commanding presence on the stage. He really does know how to communicate a story to extract its maximum comedic value. His timing and pacing are superb. The show has the content value of a Ned Sherrin and the delivery value of a Tom O’Connor.
In a section which he jokingly calls “Brilliant tips from a veteran broadcaster” he talks about what happens when everything goes wrong on live TV and radio. He mixes his own experiences with stories from some of the famous names he has met over the years.
He goes on to deliver “some of the greatest showbiz stories never told” as finally, he can tell the full, uncensored stories about many of the incidents he has provoked or been witness to over his long career. From secondhand Donegal tombstones to US president Calvin Coolidge to first meeting Kathleen Watkins on Dawson Street, he covers an array of the insightful, the intuitive and the ingenious.
Watkins herself makes a cameo appearance before Byrne takes to the piano for some risqué melodies. He finishes a thoroughly enjoyable evening with a rendition of Soap up my arse and slide me backwards up the bannisters. Produced by John McColgan, Byrne will tour his (mostly) one man show nationwide in the new year.
