Mr Dylan Moran remains the louchely dishevelled, misanthropic Irish comedy king, adored for his cynical, chain-smoking character Bernard Black in the globally adored and much-quoted cult TV show Black Books.
The actor, writer and artist, who hails from Navan, County Meath, first took the terrifying plunge into the maelstrom of stand-up comedy in 1992, aged 20, performing his material at Dublin’s famous Comedy Cellar. After four years of being hilariously himself, his dour wit and charmingly curmudgeonly persona were recognised when Moran became the youngest-ever recipient of the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award.
On-stage comedy became on-screen comedy when Moran landed the leading male protagonist’s role in the criminally underrated How Do You Want Me?, a BBC Two dark comedy drama written by Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye.
Then came the big one: Black Books. Another dark comedy programme, only this time co-created by Moran himself alongside Father Ted and The IT Crowd writer Graham Linehan. Co-starring professional silly-billy Bill Bailey and Green Wing’s Tamsin Greig, Black Books ran for three seasons between 2000 and 2004, eventually breaking out from cult status into the mainstream.
Moran’s cynical, reluctant second-hand bookshop proprietor Bernard Black ranked 19th in Channel 4’s World’s Greatest Comedy Characters poll in 2007. Written by Moran for himself, the character felt like an amplified version of his stand-up persona: a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Is this art imitating life, or life imitating art? Speaking of which, Moran is also a fabulously experimental visual artist, creating and exhibiting sketches and paintings that are simultaneously confounding, funny and utterly absurd. Much like his new show, Looking for Trouble.
This two-hour live stand-up spectacular is something of an exhibition itself, being performed across 82 dates throughout the UK, Ireland and wider Europe.
Described as “joyfully cynical” by The Metro, the ambitious project is Moran’s ninth major international comedy tour. Audiences are promised the chance to “reclaim your life” through lethal kickboxing, chess championships, global lovemaking and even becoming part of an elite band of “trillionaire poet/pastry chef/mountaineers”. Sign me up!
Tickets are priced at £36.00 for Middlesbrough Town Hall and £34.55 for Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle.
Tickets are available from boxoffice.middlesbrough.gov.uk and tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk.
