THE audience for comedian Ed Byrne's show at the Swan Theatre in Stratford was in for a bit of a shock.

It's not that Byrne, who with his "little Mobli" is the star of those cute Carphone Warehouse radio ads, likes to swear a bit and seems obsessed with sex, it's just that his hair appears to be in reverse.

The days when his shoulder length locks and cheeky Irish charm won him the adoration of countless female fans are long gone. Even the shorter style favoured in the past couple of years has disappeared.

Now, with his shaven head and skinny frame, 30-year-old Byrne bears an uncanny likeness to actor Robert Carlyle's psycho in TV's Cracker.

Anyone expecting a cuddly couple of hours of humour of the sort he has dished out on countless TV shows last Thursday, such as Des O'Connor Tonight, Call My Bluff and the Royal Variety Performance, would have been disappointed.

Clearly Byrne's TV and radio work belie a far edgier performer, who chain smokes and sips beer throughout an 80-minute set that tackles a diverse range of subjects, climaxing in a neat routine involving a microphone stand and his girlfriend's too honest assessment of his lovemaking abilities.

Byrne is funny, and the mainly youthful audience clearly appreciated his humour.

But then again quite a few seemed to appreciate support act Dave Hadingham, whose crude "lad's mag" gags were, at times, a truly hair-raising experience.

Review by MARK JESSOP