'I will miss him so much' — Comedian Ed Byrne leads tributes to his brother, Paul

Paul Byrne who died aged 45 with comedian, Glenn Wool, and his brother, comedian Ed Byrne. Picture: Twitter

Comedian Ed Byrne has paid an emotional tribute to his younger brother Paul, who has died at the age of 45 following a short illness.

As part of his work as a comedy show director, Paul Byrne worked behind the scenes of countless TV shows and with the likes of Andrew Maxwell, Glenn Wool, Dara O’Brian, Omid Djalili, and Roisin County.

Speaking this morning, Ed Byrne said his brother was “a lot of things to a lot of people”.

"A talented comedy director and stand-up fixer, he was loved by so many. 

“But to me, he was my pain-in-the-arse little brother and I will miss him so much,” Mr Byrne said.

Individual Artist Management, the agency which represented Paul Byrne said they were “extremely saddened” to learn of his passing.

Very sorry to hear of the passing of comedy director Paul Byrne and younger brother of @MrEdByrne - a very dear soul with whom I had many laughs at various Edinburgh festivals. He was 45 years old.

— Omid Djalili (@omid9) February 12, 2022

"Paul was an exceptional comedy director and worked on breakthrough and seminal shows for some of the UK's finest comedy talent.

"His knowledge and understanding of stand-up was unsurpassed as was his ability to help comedians discover their voice.”     

Noting examples of Mr Bryne’s award-winning work, the agency said he had “an incredible gift at developing talent”.  

Goodnight KiKi,
If laughs were money
we’d have been billionaires
Safe travels
Paul Byrne 1977-2022
RIP (it up) pic.twitter.com/FbyNrKWksz

— Glenn Wool (@GlennWool) February 12, 2022

”His calm and assured presence and creative input gave talent the confidence they needed to give the best possible performance,” a spokesperson for the agency said.

"He was talent wrangler on ITV's Show Me the Funny, as ever, helping the comics on their journey.

"He had a sparkle and talent that was utterly infectious and he will be greatly missed. Rest in peace you wonderful human."