ED BYRNE
Comedian
“I’m looking forward to seeing Clerks II (www.clerks2.com). I’m a big fanof Kevin Smith. But by that I mean Jay and Silent Bob, not Jersey Girl. The lower-budget capers are much better. I’ve just bought Pearl Jam’s self-titled new album (www.pearljam.com). I’ve grown up with them: their first album was very grungy, and as we’ve both gotten older it’s like they’re writing music for me. It gets more and more acoustic.
“I’ve been watching the American cop drama The Shield on DVD (www.fxnetworks.com). The main character is painted as the bad guy, but your sympathy for him grows. The hero here is a bent copper. That’s quite a tricky one to sell.
“I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to books. I’ve just read Christopher Brookmyre’s Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil (www.brookmyre.co.uk). It’s a crime thriller. In 1997, when I was halfway through one of his books, I was talking to a man in the audience at a show in Edinburgh and it turned out to be him!”