DYLAN MORAN: OFF THE HOOK | LIVE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sun 29 Mar
Dylan Moran’s hiatus from the UK comedy circuit has been so long that the younger generation might be forgiven for considering him an actor first, stand-up second.
It’s been three years since Moran performed his own show on British soil, having travelled the world to perform in places as far away as America and Russia.
Even in the foyer beforehand I heard one punter refer to him as ‘the guy from Black Books’. As excellent a sitcom as that is, Moran reminds us with Off The Hook that his first and true vocation is stand-up comedy. After all, this is the man who, at the age of 24, became the youngest ever winner of the Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival.
Even at that young age, Moran was a grump; a moaner who felt the world hated him and he, in turn, hated it back. Thankfully this persona hasn’t changed a bit – glass of red wine in one hand, the other flailing around mid-rant as he takes on modernity and all its ills.
Even if this level of misanthropy is an act (it’s hard to see how somebody could be that curmudgeonly and find the will to function), he does it better than anyone.
The narrative of the show concerns just how horrible modern life is, just how much we have to worry about, and the fact that the only escapism we have is with such things as Twitter and Facebook.
Politics gets a kicking too as David Cameron is praised for at least being relatable because he has a “hole in his face that he breathes out of”, Ed Miliband is described as “an experiment”, and Nigel Farage referred to warmly as a “refugee from a 1970s sitcom”.
And what of us, the general public? “We’re just jelly babies with cash.”
It’s lines like these that draw the biggest laughs from the audience but with Moran it’s not about the punchlines, or more to the point there are no real punchlines – just long, unfiltered, impulsive rants that stem from a bitter and angry part of his brain. Some of the best received material is mid-sentence, off the cuff, thrown away lethargically like it’s only just appeared in his head.
The fact that it’s part of a stand-up act that has been meticulously written and performed night after night confirms Moran’s genius.
words ROB HARRIES
Dylan Moran: Off The Hook, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wed 15 April. Tickets: £12.50-£25. Info: www.dylanmoran.com