Dylan Moran: Monster

It has taken an AGE for the DVDs to come out in Australia showing us what the real Dylan Moran is like. Black books is a wonderful show but that does not necessarily make a great comedian ( Ricky Gervais' the Office is a great show but his stand-up comedy work is lacking... ) But the same cannot be said of Dylan Moran.

For a start, Dylan Moran is a man who, like his character Bernard, is often bewildered and annoyed at popular culture today, and he does it in such a wonderful way that you can't help but laugh, even if you disagree with him. And when you do agree with him, you'll find yourself laughing to near hysteria. It's that sort of show. He is charming and clever with his audience and moves quickly from topic to topic, so that although the show only went for an hour and a half it seems infinitely diverse and rich.

Great comedy.

First show I watched from Irish stand-up comedian Dylan Moran and it was entertaining. A bit longer than normal for a stand-up comedy but never boring. Dylan Moran talks about everything, says it like he thinks it, sometimes a bit weird but mostly imaginative. He has a good vocabulary, but sometimes he mumbles too much. There were times he had to think a bit longer to remember his text but still it was entertaining. Some jokes weren't the greatest, but were followed by some very good ones. Good and weird observations of daily things in life, well brought to an audience that clearly had a good time, and so did I.

Dylan Moran is a poetic drunk who holds a grudge against the world that's having him. Everything and everyone gets his goat. Even the simple joys of life unleash that monster that swells inside of Dylan. His persona on stage makes you think that he is better of being left alone, but this is one of the essential ingredients and ironies of Dylan Moran's stand up comedy routine. He clearly makes it clear that he hates interacting with people, yet he feels the need to tell us his pet hates in front of an audience of up to 600 people.

The man himself is a mystery. Unlike Irish comedians like Tommy Tiernan & Ed Byrne when thay are on a television chat show, who would do a questions and answer section after their 10 minute slot, Moran just did his stand up. I know his professional career began in 1993 when he won the So You Think Your Funny competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Critical attention followed in 1996 when he won the Perrier Award. His first sitcom, How do you want me lasted for two series. Nothing else was heard from him till 2000 when he released his cult hit Black Books. Film appearances followed but I have never seen him do interviews and I think this is why I love this DVD. This is the closest you'll will get to a televised interview. However because this is his stage persona we'll never get glimpse at what the real man is like.

Filmed in April in 2004 at Vicar Street in Dublin. Moran's Stand up comedy is very well crafted. What gives it the power is his naturalistic delivery. It comes across that he is just picking these ideas and one liners as he speaks. He is also a master craftsman at working the audience. He makes the audience titter with nervous laughter continuously with his quips and well executed improvisations. This titter spreads like a wave taking everybody in the room with it. Then when you least expect it he hits you with the killer punch line. Not all his stories and observations have a punch line but he keeps everybody on their toes with seductive quips till he lands it carefully. Its like going to the pub with a couple of mates and the conversation you have with them is full of humorous quips till somebody levels the whole lot of you with the one liner to beat them all. That's what it's like at a Dylan Moran show. Topics of the night involve religion, children, rap, and culminates in his observation on how you can spot Irish people abroad.

A definite for any fan of surreal literate comedy.

Back in Dublin to do a stand up show, Moran quickly defies the public smoking ban before going on to muse about the way we live our lives, the amount of time people really put into eating and living well – no matter what the adverts, cookery shows, self-help books etc tell us, nobody does anything that interesting. He discusses all manners of issues about getting a bit older and life in general.

Many viewers will, like myself, have come to this live show off the back of Moran's irritable, unpredictable and funny character in Black Books – and such viewers will be pleased to find that his on-stage personae is pretty much like that character except more sociable and less drunk. His material is observational stuff but it is the writing that makes it much better than the same observations made by a more standard comedian; his turn of phrase and his imaginative take of things makes even the most obvious remark just that little bit funnier. Many of his lines are so out of the blue and slanted that they took me by surprise and drew a laugh out of me.

He reminded me a bit of Eddie Izzard's style and I imagine that, even if you haven't heard of Moran, if you like Izzard then you'll most likely enjoy Moran. The language and subject matter will not be to everyone's taste but it made me laugh out loud a real hatful of times and consistently amused me throughout.

Never having seen Dylan Moran perform live I had the misfortune of going to see a taping of Monster for BBC America. The taping was short confused and felt like the series of punchlines to longer jokes. Walking out of the taping with some friends we figured that there had to be some reason that Moran had a hit TV show and sold out concerts around the world, some reason we were missing. When the show finally aired on TV it was further cut down to fit in an hour time slot with commercials and comedy inserts.

As luck would have it I saw that Amazon UK was selling a version of Monster that ran twice the length of what I had seen at the taping. Curious, I picked it up.

Taped in Dublin prior to the BBC America show, the difference was night and day. Dylan Moran in his full on glory is a very funny man. No one and nothing is sacred as he dismantles everything from religion, to children, to drinking, to hair, to your full potential, to god knows what. Moran has a problem with everything and he's going to tell you about it in a very funny manner. Seeing Moran speed down the tracks building up more and more steam as he goes is one of the great pleasures I've had in a long time. Think of him as a slightly inebriated combination of Eddie Izzard and George Carlin (but with out the black world view and the cross dressing) as filtered through an Irish sensibility. Its a unique view that we should all be exposed to as often as possible.

If you can get you hands on a copy of the show, do so. Its something you'll be watching and quoting for years to come. Trust me