This wasn’t exactly what I had expected. Dylan Moran, the genius behind that marvelous BBC program ‘Black Books,’ is coming out on stage purely to entertain me. I’m giddy with anticipation. An abusive, drunken, slurring Irishman is a sure-fire way to warm up a cold winter’s night. Alas, I was disappointed.

It’s clear from Moran’s delivery that he’s far more talented behind the typewriter, writing and rewriting scripts, than in front of a microphone. His material is without a doubt very funny, but his delivery seemed slightly off and really needed to be tightened up. It’s a problem that seems to have a common thread – large venues. Stand-up comics that work in an intimate style are lost on the massive stages of the Melbourne Town Hall and the Athenaeum Theatre, and Moran really deserved a darker, smaller room for his mannerisms to work.

That said, he definitely had the audience in the palm of his hand, throwing out slightly offensive comments left, right and centre. In true Irish fashion, his nature is not one of a purely insulting egomaniac; rather, it is one of a lyrical, foppish, self-deprecating intellectual. His material is great, and it seems his character of Bernard on ‘Black Books’ could be an extremely close equivalent to his own tortured personality. If you loved the TV series, be warned that Dylan Moran Live lacks the snappiness of delivery. If you haven’t, you’ll love him.