I can’t help but be excited about tonight, the veneer of a reviewers impartiality is falling apart like a wet cake at the thought of seeing Dylan Moran’s new show Off the Hook.
Last time I saw him perform was a warm up show before the Edinburgh fringe festival where it was unpolished new material that was being test run on a small audience. After that show and days after, my stomach felt like it had been wailed on by a prize fighter, I couldn’t recall laughing so much, possibly ever.
So here I am, ready for round two.
The audience hushes as a glass of wine is placed on the stage, Moran follows and obviously has a lot on his mind.
He covers current events, middle age, the human condition and the insanity of cafe culture in what seems like one avalanche of a sentence.
There is instant laughter as soon as he’s onstage and it continues throughout with punctuations of applause at certain high points where the ridiculously surreal is crossed with bang on political and social satire.
The interval shows some of the audience are feeling the pace, I overhear comments like “I haven’t laughed like that for ages!” Or “well now I’m knackered”.
The bell rings, we return to our seats and off we go again.
Dylan Moran does make it look rather effortless, like all the greats do. I’ve followed him (not literally) for many years seeing early comedy store appearances to the mighty Black Books (watch immediately if you haven’t already) to bigger and bigger shows.
Off the Hook doesn’t disappoint, bringing the surreal and whimsical world of Dylan Moran to you in spades. His world is very similar to yours yet bizarrely alien. Imagine if Salvador Dali and Tim Burton met in a Dublin bar with wine, a tape recorder and went on a rampage.
Hilarious as always, definitely try and catch the show live or if not, the obligatory DVD later in the year.
Review by Adam Willis
