Until now Ed Byrne was perhaps best known for setting up his middle-aged mother to swear her head off as a foil for his Edinburgh Fringe Festival act back in 2000.

Playing to a sell-out and animated Hebden Bridge Festival audience, the comedian's, far from insular Irish wit defeated the gloomy storms outside as he brought an international perspective to national and local news.

A quick straw poll established that many of his fans had not seen live performances before.

His coy yet incisive rants lampooned the cult of reality TV celebrity.

Joking that the copyright warning on DVDs have music "so funky it makes me want to obey the law," he railed against a WAGS work-out video selling more than his and suggested that they should have included "how to take a punch" as part of the package.

Riffing on the ways different nationalities treat him, he said that the English will cross a room to tell him they don't know who he is.

The Irish, he says, always have a go at the famous but the Scots are perfectly happy as long as he is as rude back to them as they are to him.

Byrne left the audience ready to face the lashing summer storms with a smile on their faces.

His quickfire tactics deterred would-be hecklers and his immediately comradely and inclusive style encouraged a festive bonhomie.