Chain Reaction

Irish stand-up Ed Byrne interviews the creator of the Pub Landlord, Al Murray. Ed tackles Al on a vast array of topics from Thackeray's attitude towards the Irish to the thorny issue of offence in comedy via how best to talk to McFly.

Ed Byrne is an Irish stand-up comedian and actor who has been a favourite on the international comedy scene for 20 years. His celebrated observational routines made him a leading light of the UK stand-up circuit in the mid-1990s and he went on to tour internationally, playing festivals and theatres across the world. In 1998, he was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival alongside eventual winner Tommy Tiernan, Peter Kay and his interviewee today, Al Murray.

After an early foray into stand-up as a character called The Murderer, Al created his famous Pub Landlord character in the mid-1990s as part of a touring show with Harry Hill. The Pub Landlord went on to tour venues and festivals worldwide before making his own chat show and sitcom for Sky. Outside of the Pub Landlord, Al is well known as a presenter of history documentaries and, more recently, as a candidate for parliament when he stood against Nigel Farage in South Thanet during the UK General Election 2015.