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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Monster

Dylan Moran

BBC · 2004 · 85 min

An elegant, booze-fueled rant against the modern world.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Dylan Moran pacing a stage with a glass of white wine in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other is one of the most comforting images in British and Irish comedy. He performs with the energy of an over-educated, slightly hungover poet who has been dragged out of a pub to explain why everything is terrible. What makes this hour work is Moran’s commitment to a finely tuned grumpiness that balances elegant prose with outright misanthropy. He manages to sound like a man falling apart while executing some of the most precisely written, rhythmic sentences in stand-up.

Recorded at Vicar Street in Dublin in May 2004, the show caught Moran at a career high. He had just wrapped up the third and final season of his sitcom Black Books and co-starred in Shaun of the Dead. Despite his growing profile, he maintains the stage persona of a cantankerous recluse who is deeply annoyed by modern life. He spends his stage time taking aim at the absurdity of rap music, the silent tragedy of modern hotel rooms, and the sheer irritation of aging. He offers memorable, bizarre thoughts on how pop stars are merely “things to occupy thongs” and laments how younger generations have traded speech for text messaging. Filmed just weeks after Ireland implemented its indoor smoking ban, Moran’s defiant puffing on stage adds a touch of local rebellion to an already beautifully chaotic set.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Anne Widdecombe's speaking voice

    Ridicules her delivery as sounding like 'a stegosaurus with its arse on fire'.

  2. Military regime change and the Iraq War

    Navigates political agnosticism until it culminates in the line 'I'd fellate a Smurf'.

  3. Silvio Berlusconi

    Delivers an astute, satirical caricature of the Italian premier.

  4. Children

    Characterizes toddlers as 'midget drunks' stumbling about and trying to plug cords into jam.

  5. Religion

    Dismisses faith as merely people talking at length about their imaginary friend.

  6. Human potential

    Compares personal potential to bank balances, noting you always have much less than you think.

How it plays

Tone
Grumpy, sweetly sour, literate, cynical, and surreal.
On stage
A rumpled, misanthropic, and indolent curmudgeon quaffing wine and chain-smoking cigarettes, heavily echoing his 'Black Books' character.
Pace
Languid and deliberately slow pacing punctuated by sudden physical animation and belligerent tirades.
About
misanthropy, aging, gender differences, religion, children, modern living

What the critics said

Lauded as an eloquent lesson in misanthropy with extraordinary poetic phrasing, though some critics felt his hand-drawn backdrop cartoons were an unnecessary distraction.

In the room: Dedicated following of Black Books admirers appreciating his laid-back, grumbling stage demeanor.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: themoviedb.org, pro.imdb.com, cinemaparadiso.co.uk, 20thcenturyflicks.co.uk, chortle.co.uk, theguardian.com, standard.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.

Backstory

Performed in his thirties amid the aftermath of the Iraq War and defied Dublin's local smoking bans on stage.

Details

Released
Taped
Vicar Street, Dublin
Runtime
85 min
Where
BBC
Director
Michael Matheson
Topics
After
Like, Totally (2005)

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