Funny Moran

AS his recent Irish tour ably demonstrated, Dylan Moran has the potential to become more than comic of the year, he can also hoist himself up to the levels of heady international success enjoyed by the likes of Eddie Izzard. You can throw a lot of adjectives at Moran's stage show rambling, open ended, discursive, literate etc but he evades capture by remaining a supreme ad libber, someone who when he is on top form can open the floor up to questions and reply in the same devastatingly funny manner that characterises his scripted material.

His Perrier success earlier this year was important, not just for the fillip it gave Irish comedy, but more for the fact that the panel decided to reward literacy and intelligence over laddish booze'n'birds material. Influences were hard to detect, but somewhere in there was the bizarre nature of Gary Larson's work coupled with the dry wit of Peter Cook.

He went on to win every award known, from a local talent show in Dublin to "So You Think You're Funny" in Edinburgh, to a Time Out award to this year's success. Currently enjoying a low profile, except amongst the initiated, like Eddie Izzard he's reluctant to hand over his material to a television producer which is commendable, because he's not suited to the sort of TV sitcom ethos that currently champions the likes of the very weak Men Behaving Badly.

This year sees him undertaking a nationwide British tour coupled, no doubt, with a second and bigger tour of Ireland. It's debatable whether he will ever cross over to mainstream appeal simply because of the oblique and arcane nature of his material. Judging by some of the new material he unveiled on his Irish tour particularly a routine about Socratic dialogues he is still to reach the peak of his power. Only 25, his potential is huge.

Pushing young Moran all the way is the explosively funny British comic Bill Bailey, who will appear in Ireland next year. Bailey, a Perrier nominee this year, looks like a sad old (hippie, but once he opens his mouth it's quite clear that this man just oozes wit and humour. Highly original cross cultural references, excellent musical pastiches and some very odd mime/performance work make him, pound for pound, one of the best comics in the business. Elsewhere, as lad humour (Frank Skinner etc;) and Lefty humour (Mark Thomas etc;) thankfully began to wane, the rise of the surreal was to be welcomed in the shape of Phil Kay and Harry Hill (both potently funny), while character comedy excelled itself this year with Al Murray's Pub Landlord creation and Alan Parker's continued rage against the "crypto fascist forces in our society" via his Urban Warrior.