Well it seems the Big Ticket must-see show this year has been Dylan Moran, star of ‘Black Books’. His sold-out show was moved to the biggest venue, the 2,000 seat Town Hall – then an extra show was added at the Arts Centre. My friends were excited ‘Black Books’ fans and having loved Bill Bailey’s show previously I was happy to go with them to see Dylan. On the stage with Dylan was a chair he never sat in and a table with 2 glasses of wine, a jug of water and glasses and the thing he used most, an ashtray next to a pack of smokes.
He mumbled observational humour in his soft brogue as he chain smoked and got huge guffaws from pockets of the audience when he mentioned being drunk. His muttering was a problem for my hearing impaired friend but I don’t think she missed that much. Most of his observations were fairly old hat. Australians come from convict stock and now have a great life on beautiful beaches, really? Didn’t Seinfeld point out the wonder & power kick of creating a human being 10 years ago? I liked him suggesting that Jesus talking about God is like a child going on about his imaginary friend, but the only thing that really took my fancy was in the encore when he improvised a little banter with the audience and did a whole bit about how the Wiggles must be aliens and he wants to hunt them down and kill them to cut them up and see. The show also seemed quite short for the price and the build up, under 50 mins. Probably just as well, though the rest of the audience managed some mild laughs throughout, I found I was barely managing the odd chuckle and what with the warm dark room and his soft murmuring I was in danger of falling asleep. The show just seemed to lack a spark of originality that made ‘Black Books’ such a success. When Dylan asked the audience for requests a clear voice boomed “Tell us about ‘Black Books’”(what did he expect?) – his instant, firm reply: “No”. So I got the impression that there were fans in the audience who’d hoped for some Goodies-style anecdotes about the show. They went home disappointed.
For booking details go to Dylan Moran