Dylan Moran

b. 1971 · Irish comedian, writer, actor and poet

Biography

Dylan Moran (born 1971 in Navan, County Meath) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor and poet, best known for his observational stand-up and for Black Books, the Channel 4 sitcom he co-created with Graham Linehan and starred in. His film career is smaller than his work on stage and television, but he has been a familiar face in British and Irish comedy since the early 2000s.

He grew up in Navan and attended St Patrick's Classical School, where he first tried stand-up alongside Tommy Tiernan and Hector Ó hEochagáin. He left school at sixteen and, by his own account, spent around four years out of work, drinking and writing poetry. He committed to comedy at twenty after watching Ardal O'Hanlon perform at the Comedy Cellar in Dublin, a fifty-seat club with no microphone. He won the So You Think You're Funny? award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993 and the Perrier Award in 1996, which brought him wider attention.

His style rests on long, looping routines whose digressions seem spontaneous but are carefully built. His tours, such as Monster and Like, Totally, were accompanied by projected drawings of his own. On television, Black Books (Channel 4, from 2000), based on a dream of his, made him a household name. His first real film role came as a small part in Notting Hill (1999), and he broke into bigger cinema with Shaun of the Dead (2004), beginning a working partnership with Simon Pegg that continued in Run Fatboy Run (2007).

Later he concentrated on international touring and on television projects. Stuck, broadcast on BBC Two in 2022 and co-starring Morgana Robinson, used episodes of only fifteen minutes. His legacy lies mainly in British and Irish observational comedy and in Black Books, which remains a reference point for sitcom audiences.

Key films

Notting Hill (1999): a small role as a shoplifter in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy.
Shaun of the Dead (2004): plays David in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's zombie comedy.
Run Fatboy Run (2007): plays Gordon, the best friend of Simon Pegg's character.
A Film with Me in It (2008): one of the two leads in this Irish black comedy.
Calvary (2014): takes part in John Michael McDonagh's Irish black comedy-drama.