Jason Byrne brings The Ironic Bionic Man to Sheffield’s Memorial Hall, Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, Leeds City Varieties, Harrogate Theatre and Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal

“I’m full of gadgets,” he says. “Now, at this stage in my life, I have ironically become bionic. I have six stents in my heart, I’ve got a wonky eye – it used to turn in when I was a kid so they fixed it and my dad used to call it my bionic eye – and had cartilage taken out of my knee because I ripped it on the toilet.”

However, the most recent, and significant, episode concerns Byrne’s heart. He’s always been very fit and active, but in the middle of training, just after lockdown, he felt a little pain in his chest and got it checked out.

After several inconclusive tests, an invasive angiogram revealed three semi-blocked branch arteries – charmingly known as “widowmakers” - caused by hereditary cholesterol issues.

Byrne was given blood thinners and beta blockers and the pain dissipated. Then came the stents – put into three arteries in his wrist, all while he was awake – and the promise of six-monthly check-ups.

One of his ways around this on stage is getting a “Jason Byrne reserve” up “just in case anything happens”, he laughs.

There’s even a bit where he has his blood pressure taken in the middle of the show and the Jason substitude has to get up and do something to keep everyone entertained.

It’s also a personal stand-up show because he talks about his beloved father, Paddy, who died just before the pandemic.

“My dad was always very funny and he is always in my shows,” says Byrne. “He was called the Paddy Lama because he was always in the shed, always full of good advice, even though it was full of cigarettes and whisky and Perry Como. He was a calm, laid-back man and he always said that if you don’t talk about somebody after they die, they die twice.”

Inspired by his dad, the stand-up has written a play called The Paddy Lama Shed Talks. He plays his dad, sitting in his shed, and the audience are Jason, listening to him chatting and giving advice.

He will put that on at the Smock Alley Theatre as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival this month, and hopefully further afield afterwards.

However, Bryne stresses that there isn’t a grand theme behind The Ironic Bionic Man.

“It’s like getting a whole audience and throwing them into a washing machine, that’s basically what happens. Where they all just come out the other side completely soaking wet going: ‘What just happened?’ That’s why they come back - not necessarily for all the pre-written stuff, they come back to see what the **** is going to happen.

“I do Edinburgh for the whole month of August and the tickets just fly out the window because they just want to have a bit of madness for about an hour. Nothing to do with our jobs, nothing to do with our lives. They want escapism, so that's what they get.”

“We basically learn nothing from my show,” he says.

“Because when you go to comedy shows now, it’s almost like school. You have to sit there and concentrate on what the comic is saying.You’re going: ‘Oh my god, this is so heavy. Like, when are they going to say something funny?’ It's almost like some of the successful comedians are just miserable.”

Byrne grew up in Dublin and got his first experience of showbusiness through his mother, who was a ballroom dancer.

He had his mind blown by Billy Connolly after sneaking in to see him at the Olympic Theatre when he was 16, and, in his late teens, while working at a cabaret venue in the city, he got to watch all sorts of acts, from stand-ups to singers.

Before long he was doing it himself and was a So You Think You’re Funny finalist in 1996 (losing to Tommy Tiernan), and was shortlisted for the Edinburgh Comedy Award, then known as the Perrier, in 1998 (in the newcomer category) and 2001.

Byrne has previously won the UK Radio industry’s Sony Radio Gold Award for his Radio 2 show, hosted chat programme Jason Byrne’s Snaptastic Show for TV3 in Ireland and co-presented Wild Things on Sky One. Television appearances also include the Royal Variety Performance, The Graham Norton Show, Live at the Apollo, his own Irish show, Anonymous, and John Bishop Christmas Show.

He has many regular punters who he’s on speaking terms with, including a graphic designer in Leeds and bus driver from Huddersfield who reliably return for his shows.

The Ironic Bionic Man has already been seen by audiences at the Edinburgh Festval, where he lays claim to being one of its biggest-selling comedians.

“If I was American, I would go ‘Yeah, isn’t that fantastic?. But I'm Irish and my answer is: that’s because I won’t **** off.

“I’ve been going since 1996, so of course I'm the biggest-selling act. Nobody can beat me because I won’t stop going.”

Jason Byrne performs at Sheffield’s Memorial Hall on Thursday, September 21, the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield on Thursday, September 28, Leeds City Varieties on Thursday, October 5, at Harrogate Theatre on Friday, October 6, and Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal on Thursday, October 19. For ticket bookings, visit jasonbyrne.ie