An entertaining evening with the master of grumpy Irish humour
By Anttoni James Numminen
Is he drunk or just pretending? With Moran it doesn’t matter, he’s just as funny either way.
In a packed Aberdeen Music Hall, a lively audience gathered to see the comedian of Black Books fame and laugh at their own expense while Dylan Moran cracked jokes about the ‘friendliness’ of Aberdonians and oil and gas money.
In a show that is both provocative and familiar, Moran takes the audience on a wickedly humorous and relatable journey through The Thing (we’re past calling a lockdown a lockdown), divorce, and realising one might not be quite as young as one thought.
Some would argue that Moran isn’t as funny as he used to be, but his show forces you to ask whether it is in fact you, the audience, that’s grown too old for his (at times rather juvenile) humour which still has the power to delight.
Though at times reminiscent of the television character, Bernard Black, who Moran is now so well known for portraying, he nevertheless brought originality and a well-placed sense of irony and self-deprecation to a show about… well, funny stuff.
Towards the end, it was also particularly gratifying to see such spirited audience interaction, which redeemed any prior shortcomings. Moran still has a fast and razor-sharp sense of humour, and an ability to deploy it almost as easily as he can scare away the mice from his apartment.
Moran’s UK tour continues until 17 June and his next Scottish show is set to take place in Glasgow on 23 May.
Stay up to date with Aberdeen Performing Arts’ upcoming events here.
