Repeatedly goading the sell-out crowd for Jersey’s lack of culture, ‘Ukippy-people’, ‘lumpy red men’ and its dependence on the finance industry, he got away with it every time because his show was a wonderful meander through the strange corners of his mind and his particular take on life.
He has a brilliant technique of appearing disjointed and chaotic, but his word-perfect rants and lengthy complaints about life, in which he piles on brilliant similes and imagery (‘We are all just hot fleas in the gulping dark’) are evidence that we were watching a highly professional comic with that uncanny ability of controlling a room but appearing to be just making it up on the spot.
While many of his subjects were classic touchstones that have been plumbed by too many comedians in the last few decades (the differences between men and women, why it’s so hard being middle-aged, the trials of parenthood), Moran’s ability to bring a fresh look at them all, complete with his furious style, ensured that the audience were not disappointed and couldn’t complain that they had heard it all before.
It was when he was exasperated that he was at his funniest. Whether it was questioning the modern trend of mixed-breed dogs (‘Who wants a Spabraweiler?’), insulting impatient Americans for inventing cheese in a spray can or bemoaning the increasing ubiquity of technology in our lives and how people can spend hours on their phones, playing on apps such as ‘Candyflaps’, he earned the most laughs when he targeted the many frustrations of life.
There were also some great observations on modern life, such as how a bath always seems to take too long, or that all children need to be healthy is love and cereal, and Moran was consistently energetic throughout the whole show, bar for a quiet ten minutes in the first half when he seemed to lose his way a little bit.
His encore, though brief, brought the house down. Reading an excerpt from his upcoming erotic novel (inspired by the success of Fifty Shades of Grey), Moran painted a scene that was marvellously un-sexy, bizarre and hilarious.
It had been 30 years since he was last in the Island, having worked here in a pub as a timid 15-year-old, and while he might have been so dismissive of this ‘meaningless lump of rock’, let’s hope that he doesn’t leave it so long before his next visit.
