Dylan Moran

Dylan William Moran ( ; born 3 November 1971) is an Irish comedian, writer, actor, artist and poet. 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. Early life Dylan William Moran was born on 3 November 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. 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 sports, explaining: "otherwise nobody would talk to me, as its very hard to find anyone else who's not rabid about sports." 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.