It’s not easy to write a review of a comedian’s performance. I don’t want to repeat the jokes because most are better in context and through delivery. So what can I say? Dylan Moran is very funny. He’s only playing three cities on his current “Yeah, Yeah” tour and I was lucky enough to see him in one of his five nights in NYC.

Moran is Irish and like Eddie Izzard, Craig Ferguson, and Billy Connolly, he has a delightfully droll outsider’s view of the US. rtb introduced me to him (she knew of him from British TV and movies) some years ago and, just like Eddie, I’d follow him anywhere. rtb and her friend were along for this outing.

Moran’s descriptions make instant images in your brain (“like an Easter Island head stuck in traffic”) and I’m bent over laughing. He discussed how Americans have influenced the English language (not necessarily for the better) and our obsession with food. Moran tried a deep fried corn flake tuna sandwich in Kansas – he said he was laughing about it until he tasted it and then he was quiet and no one around him was allowed to speak. He tried to get his wife to move to Kansas just so he could be near the sandwich.

One word he kept using was ‘gay’ as some teenagers use it now. His children use it that way and there was no PC talk on why the word couldn’t be used that way. Just that it didn’t make any sense the way it was being used. You could tell that there were some in the audience that were having difficulty with Moran not being totally on the PC side of the argument.

He read a poem about the coverage of our presidential election that had me in hysterics with the constant shouting of “I’m Wolf Blitzer and you’re in the Situation Room” inserting itself into the poem. He wrote a chapter for an erotic novel that was erotic in the sense that you’d want to have any man who can be that funny.

Moran’s hair has a little gray now and he was talking about getting older. His kids aren’t toddlers anymore so he can talk about their teenage sass. He still comes to the stage with his glass of red wine. The cigarette was missing – I don’t know if that was because of the fire code or if he quit. His hand holding the mic kept shaking – I’m not sure what that was about. And after intermission he seemed a bit lost and rambling.

Here’s an interview with Moran talking about the current tour. It’s not so funny that you’ll be convinced to see him. But believe me, you should see him.

This was my first time at Theatre 80. It’s an historic theater on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. It’s family owned and the owner’s 92yo mother lives upstairs. He joked that she had her ear to the kitchen floor in order to hear the show. It’s an intimate space with a bar that you can go to even if you’re not there for a show. Another great space to keep in business. Go there and drink.

By Carene Lydia Lopez