Dylan William Moran ( MOR-ən; born 1971 or 1972) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and artist. He is best known for his observational comedy, the comedy series Black Books (which he co-wrote and starred in), and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also one of two lead characters in the Irish black comedy film A Film with Me in It.
He is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival. In 2007, he was voted the 17th greatest stand-up comedian by Channel 4; in the updated 2010 list, he was ranked as the 14th greatest.
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Early life
Dylan William Moran was born in 1971 in Navan, County Meath. He attended St Patrick's Classical School, where he experimented early on with stand-up alongside fellow comedians Tommy Tiernan and Hector Ó hEochagáin; he left with his Leaving Certificate at age 16. He has said that he then spent four years unemployed "drinking and writing bad poetry". He worked as a florist at some point, but hated it and quit after a week. In 2021, Moran told NME magazine that a track that reminds him of home and "of Dublin when I was young" was The Business Enterprise (My Friend John), a 1985 Irish one-hit wonder.
He has said that he was very passionate about rugby and enjoyed watching many games when he was growing up, but has since lost interest and has none in any other sport either. He nonetheless makes an effort to keep somewhat abreast of popular sport, explaining: "otherwise nobody would talk to me, as it's very hard to find anyone else who's not rabid about sport."
Career
Moran came to comedy at age 20 after watching Ardal O'Hanlon and other comedians perform at Dublin's Comedy Cellar, a fifty-seater comedy club with no microphone, in the basement of The International Bar on South Wicklow Street. He began his stand-up there in 1992 and 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 second 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 1997 Moran wrote a weekly column for The Irish Times.
Moran won his first major television role in 1998, playing Ian Lyons in the BBC 2 sitcom How Do You Want Me?, opposite Charlotte Coleman. He went on to appear in a small role in the 1999 movie Notting Hill as a shoplifter. In 2000, Black Books was launched on Channel 4. The sitcom, about depressed, bitter, alcoholic, chain-smoking and misanthropic book shop owner Bernard Black, was based on a dream Moran had in the mid-eighties during a weekend away in Limerick. The first series was written with fellow Irishman Graham Linehan, and produced by Mark Buckley and Albert Kenny of Kenley Studios. 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 horror comedy Shaun of the Dead.
Moran toured his stand-up shows Monster I and Monster II in 2004, including performances in New York and Milan, as well as a tour across Britain and Ireland which culminated 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 City in 2004 as part of the British/Irish Comedy Invasion (including performances by top British and Irish 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.
Awards and commendations
At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he won the 'So You Think You're Funny? Award' in 1993, and the Perrier Award in 1996. He 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 14th-greatest comedy stand-up. Moran was declared "the greatest comedian, living or dead" by the French newspaper Le Monde in July 2007. He has also twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy, both for Black Books.
Personal life
Moran married his wife Elaine in 1997. They lived in Edinburgh with their two children. In 2022, Moran and Elaine divorced.
Moran quit smoking in 2014 and became teetotal in 2018, but has since resumed drinking.
