Where I think we’re not acting spoiled enough is in the political arena

gorms, and the nation-dividing campaign and result of the EU referendum. His way of tackling Brexit is to draw an analogy with the time his son was determined to touch an electric fence, with his dad trying to warn him of the dangers.

“I was telling the story of the electric fence for a while, and then suddenly it struck me that it was Brexit in microcosm,” he says. “I don’t want to alienate half of the population or maybe a third of my audience, but it works as an analogy whichever side you’re on.

“The Government told you not to do this and that it would be a terrible idea, but you said ‘No, we want to do it anyway’. So now we’re doing it and it’s proving a terrible idea. I do think it’s a fair analogy, but no doubt for some it will come across as me being a typical liberal-elite Remoaner.”

Spoiler Alert also continues a theme that he’s tackled in previous shows, that of his gradual shift from being a working-class Dubliner to a fully paid-up rural-residing member of the middle classes. Where once he would do routines slating 4x4 owners, he is now the proud(ish) owner of such a vehicle. And in the poster for his tour, he brandishes other signifiers of social mobility: a bowtie and chainsaw.

“It’s one of two I own: that one is the smaller of the two,” Ed re- every city and town in mostly back-to-back gigs.

Ed’s success with shows such as the Roaring Forties, Different Class and the 1998 Perrier-nominated A Night At The Opera led to him appearing on the box in the diverse likes of Mock The Week, Father Ted, The One Show and All Star Mr & Mrs, while his love of hill-walking resulted in him writing a regular column for The Great Outdoors magazine.

In fact, his love of natural history has crossed into television with appearances on The One Show (abseiling in Snowdonia), Countryfile (climbing Sgurr Dearg, the ‘inaccessible pinnacle’ on Skye) and presenting items on Volcano Live (BBC). He is also co-host of the highly acclaimed Dara & Ed’s Big Adventure and follow up Dara & Ed’s Road To Mandalay, both on BBC 2.

Ed Byrne’s Spoiler Alert will be at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, on Saturday, February 10, 2018, at 8pm. Tickets cost £24 from www. waterfront.co.uk