Ed Byrne's latest show, which is at The Hawth, Crawley this week, is in a Different Class. The comedian talks to Deborah Tucknott about working hard, weddings, weird gigs and what's next...

It's St Patrick's Day when we speak and for once Irish comedian Ed Byrne doesn't have any gigs to do.

"This is the first St Patrick's Day I've had off for many years," says 36-year-old Byrne, who is from Dublin.

"Most of the time I work St Patrick's night – we will do a gig with other comedians – but today I will have the day off."

And, apart from talking to the odd journalist, rather then going out revelling himself, he is taking it easy.

"I think I'm going to enjoy not doing anything for a day. This tour schedule has been quite punishing."

It sounds like he is pretty tired for every now and then the conversation is punctuated by a big yawn, for which he apologises.

It's not surprising really – his spring tour of Different Class has been virtually non-stop since the beginning of February, taking him across the country with a gig in a different town each night and scattered days off in between.

Different Class, which takes inspiration for its poster design from the Pulp album of the same name, sold out at its month-long run at the Edinburgh Festival.

Byrne explains what it's all about.

"One of the themes of the show is growing up and being not particularly middle class and not particularly working class.

"We grew up not being posh and not being poor and not really fitting into either category."

One of the big subjects of Byrne's act is his wedding.

"I been married nine months. The best thing is that since I've been married I've not had to plan a f****** wedding.

"The thing that gets to me is when you say to someone, 'When are you getting married?' and they say, 'Eight months – that doesn't give us a lot of time!'"

Byrne describe his wife Claire as "the muse of all of the material – she inspires all my material".

But what does she think of Byrne's jokes about weddings?

"The two of us kind of felt the same way. I'm on stage slagging the invite people who quoted £1,700 pounds – we were both shocked to the core."

Byrne explains: "I'm not slagging off my wife, I'm slagging off the wedding industry. Everyone can relate to the minor frustrations that any wedding involves, such as arguing about stuff that you don't really care about."

Byrne started his journey into comedy at the student union hosting pub quizzes and karaoke, which gave him a taste for the mic.

Aside from national success he has found international fame in stand up.

In 2006 he hosted the Just For Laughs Festival Irish Gala and his following show, Standing Up & Falling Down, was the biggest selling comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival that year and went to Melbourne and New Zealand.

The voice behind The Carphone Warehouse ads has presented various TV shows, including numerous editions of Mock the Week and his own six-part series, Ed Byrne's Just For Laughs.

His CV includes the films, RAT, I Could Never Be Your Woman, Are You Ready For Love and the lead in Zemanovaload.

He played a grungy teenager in a Father Ted Christmas special, Aladdin in an ITV pantomime, the co-lead in the ITV sitcom, Sam's Game and has performed in theatre shows.

But while he is one of our most loved comedians, it isn't always plain sailing for even top comedians and he recalls one particular gig he once played.

"The audience just didn't get it. They sat there staring at me – it was just a really weird thing. You can have a lot of people who get together and decide not to get it. You see another audience the following night in the same venue who love it.

"Everywhere is different," says Byrne, who goes on to recall a recent performance.

"The last one was St Helen's on Sunday night. I have never seen such a grim f****** town. The road in from Manchester is really grim and the area around the theatre.

"You get on stage and say, 'Where are all the nice bits?'"

Byrne brings his tour to The Hawth, Crawley, tomorrow (April 3) and continues taking it around the country until Saturday April 18.

"Then it's off to New Zealand to tour and have a little holiday," he says.

He will be doing Mock the Week again in the summer and hosting a show for BBC Northern Ireland before the autumn leg begins.

"I've been reliably informed that this is my best show yet," Byrne says of Different Class. "It's partly down to experience.

"More than anything though, as mushy as it sounds, it's down to the love of a good woman. That really helps my comedy because it means I'm freer to focus on it.

"I'm now leading a life that lends itself much better to comedy. I'm doing lovely things like getting married and reporting on that and audiences seem to warm to it.

"Of course, if my wife ever left me, I'd end up doing the divorce show, and it's quite possible that that wouldn't go down very well at all. People prefer me when I'm happy."

Ed Byrne brings Different Class to The Hawth, Crawley, tomorrow (April 3), at 8pm. Tickets in the side circle were still available at time of going to press, priced £15. To book, call 01293 553636 or log on to www.hawth.co.uk.

Additional reporting by James Rampton