Once Jason Byrne came bouncing onto the stage in his newly purchased moon boots, an impulsive purchase made in the aftermath of his recent separation, you had the feeling that evening could take off in any weird and whimsical direction.

However, to the madness presented on stage, where no member of the audience could consider themselves safe from the threat of being pelted with impromptu gags, there was a sense that Byrne was sending a message that men without a good partner were at danger of losing control.

He compares his plight of being newly single to an out of control racehorse that has lost his jockey a few furlongs back, when breaking down the break-up of his marriage of 20 years. In hilarious slapstick fashion, Byrne goes from his jockey-less racehorse choreography to taking tips of the family dog of dragging his backside along the floor to dry himself after showering, now there's no one to reign him in.

As a master of audience mockery, the Irishman had a lot of good material laying at his feet, from the mob of Norwich singleton's in the front row, to the Alaskan-Norfolk love story in the second row. The lady from Enniskillen had a tirade of Arlene Foster's dour mannerisms launched towards her as part of a display that outraged and amazed.

Very quick off the mark and willing to tread the line, the witty Jason Byrne has taken the hardship of the end of his marriage and turned it on it's head on a night that had tears, only of laughter, being shed from all areas of the Playhouse.