Dylan Moran
(born 3 November 1971) is a BAFTA and Perrier Award-winning Irish comedian, actor and writer. He is most famous for his observational comedy, the television sitcom Black Books
which he co-wrote and starred in, and his work with Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead
and Run Fatboy Run
. Moran is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival.
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DYLAN MORAN TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Moran was born in
Navan,
County Meath,
Ireland. He attended
St. Patrick's Classical School, where he experimented early on with standup, (with fellow comic
Tommy Tiernan) and left at age 16
[1] with his
leaving certificate. Moran apparently spent four jobless years "drinking and writing bad poetry".
[2] He worked as a florist for a week but hated it.
Career
Moran fell into comedy at age 20 after watching
Ardal O'Hanlon and other comedians perform at Dublin's Comedy Cellar, a small fifty-seater comedy club with no microphone in the upstairs of The International Bar on South Wicklow Street. He began his stand up here in 1992 and, although nervous, got a good reception.
In 1993 he won the
So You Think You're Funny award at the
Edinburgh Festival. He went on to become the youngest person to win the
Perrier Comedy Award in 1996 at the Edinburgh Festival at age 24.
Gurgling For Money
was Moran's first major one man stand up UK tour in 1997. He went on to perform at many other festivals including the
Hay Festival,
Montreal comedy festival, Vancouver Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. Between 1995 and 1996 Moran wrote a weekly column for
The Irish Times
.
In 1998 Moran won his first major television role playing Ian Lyons in the
BBC 2 sitcom
How Do You Want Me?
, with
Charlotte Coleman.
He went on to appear in a small role in the 1999 movie
Notting Hill
as Rufus the thief.
In 2000,
Black Books
was first aired on
Channel 4. The sitcom about a miserable, unsociable, drunken book shop owner,
Bernard Black, was the original idea of Moran and brought into existence with the aid of co-writer and fellow Irishman
Graham Linehan. The second series was televised in 2002, and the third, which aired in
2004, was greeted with great enthusiasm by critics and fans alike.
In the same year, Moran appeared in his first major film role, playing David in the comedy
Shaun of the Dead
.
2004 saw Moran taking to the road again with his new shows
Monster I
and
Monster II
, including performances in
New York and
Milan, as well as a zig-zag tour around Britain and Ireland, culminating in a week-long run at London's
Palace Theatre, before two shows at
Dublin's
Vicar Street, and finally an appearance at the
Hay Festival. The tour was described by
The Times
as a "masterclass of comic charisma: swinging from topic to topic in a manner seemingly spontaneous but actually tightly organised".
A live DVD of the
Monster II
tour, filmed on
28 May at Dublin's Vicar Street, was released that year, as Moran's first live stand-up DVD. After a successful run in New York in 2004 as part of the British Comedy Invasion (including performances by top British comedians such as
Eddie Izzard, fellow
Black Books
star
Bill Bailey and Irish comedian
Tommy Tiernan) Moran returned to New York for a month-long run at the Village Theatre. He then performed a two-week London West End run at the
Wyndham's Theatre, 1–
13 November 2004.
His third major tour,
Like, Totally
, opened at the
Buxton Opera House on
3 May 2005,
and as with his previous tours the stand-up routine was accompanied by projected cartoons drawn by Moran. A DVD of the tour was released in December 2005.
Moran appeared as the character of Gordon in the comedy film
Run, Fat Boy, Run
, released in September 2007 which cast Moran as the best friend to Dennis (
Shaun of the Dead
co-star
Simon Pegg), having played an adversary to Pegg's character in
Shaun of the Dead
.
In June 2008, Dylan Moran appeared with Ardal O'Hanlon & Tommy Tiernan at the Liverpool Arena in 'The Three Fellas', a one-off comedy event, part of the city's 'European Capital of Culture 2008' celebrations.
In October to December 2008, Moran embarked on a new UK tour entitled
What It Is
, starting at the
Grand Opera House in
York, and ending in
Oxford's New Theatre. Other notable venues include
Colston Hall at
Bristol,
Nottingham's
Royal Concert Hall, the
Bournemouth International Centre, the
Waterfront Hall Auditorium in
Belfast and the Corran Halls in
Oban. The tour was extended into 2009 and will be released on DVD in winter 2009.
Awards and commendations
At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe he has won the 'So You Think You're Funny? Award' in 1993, and the
Perrier Award in 1996, but later dismissed the latter as "a load of media rubbish," stating
Bill Bailey deserved it more.
A popular poll commissioned by Channel 4 ranked him the 17th Greatest Comedy Stand-up.
[3]
Moran was declared "the greatest comedian, living or dead" by major French newspaper,
Le Monde
in July 2007.
[4]
He has also twice won the
BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy, both for
Black Books
.
Personal life
Dylan married his wife Elaine on
6 September 1997 in
London. They have two children, Simon and Siobhan, who are frequently mentioned in his stand-up shows. The family currently resides in
Edinburgh.
Appearances
Year
| Title
| Type
| Notes
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1998
| Just for Laughs
| Comedy Festival
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1998
| How Do You Want Me?
| Television
| Ian Lyons
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1999
| Notting Hill
| Film
| Rufus the Thief
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2000
| Ready, Steady...Cough
| Tour
|
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2000-2004
| Black Books
| Television
| BAFTA Award winning show , Starred as Bernard Black
|
2003
| The Actors
| Film
| Tom Quirke
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2004
| Shaun of the Dead
| Film
| David
|
2002 and 2004
| Monster 1-2
| Tour
|
|
2006
| A Cock and Bull Story
| Film
| Dr Slop
|
2006
| Like, Totally
| Tour
|
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2006
| Melbourne International Comedy Festival
| Live
|
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2006
| Tell it to the Fishes
| Film
| Finn
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2006
| The Secret Policeman's Ball
| Television
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2007
| Run Fatboy Run
| Film
| Gordon
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2008
| A Film With Me In It
| Film
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2008
| The Three Fellas
| One-off show
| Dylan Moran, Ardal O’Hanlon & Tommy Tiernan, Liverpool Arena
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2008-2009 [5]
| What It Is
| Tour
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2009
| The Fellas Live!
| Limited US Tour
| The 'fellas' appearing in Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City.
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References
- Bye bye Bernard
- "People have told me I'm grumpy"
- 100 Greatest Comedy Comedy Stand-ups
- Le Monde, Issue 37954-2375a July 29 2007
- http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/artist/952480/?tm_link=