"There's something very gentlemanly about his stand-up." Emma McAlpine spends an hour in the company of circuit veteran John Moloney.
Before John Moloney even comes on stage I spot Joe Pasquale in the audience. Surely that’s got to be off-putting, having a fellow comic famous for stealing jokes listening to your set? But then to rework a Stewart Lee joke, if Joe Pasquale can steal your material; maybe it’s time to think about writing something else...
Sat on a stool throughout, slowly and quietly delivering musings on life and love deadpan-style, Moloney is old school personified, a far cry from the hi-energy routines favoured by the well-known Russells of the comedy world. A circuit veteran, this is the first solo show he’s done in the best part of a decade although there’s still a bit of old material floating about, including bits on his former years as a German teacher.
While subject matter isn’t exactly ground-breaking – observations on how unattractive Camilla Parker-Bowles is, the differences between men and women’s conversations and ugly phonetics of German language are case in point – Moloney incorporates enough sharp punchlines and unique perspectives to make up for the well-trodden ground. His thoughts on dog adoption are a good example of his observational material at its best. Any wannabe ‘second-hand dog owners’ have to have their houses inspected to make sure they’re big enough for the dog. “If it’s too small they take the dog away,” says Moloney. “And they leave you there! – I’m going down the local council dressed as a Great Dane.”
His years spent as a former language teacher are reflected in his monologues; peppered with neat turns of phrase and a comprehensive vocabulary, each adjective is chosen for maximum comic effect. Linguistic flare isn’t the only cerebral muscle he flexes either, references to Chomsky, Marx and geometrics all get some airplay; but he’s not afraid to embrace his silly side either. Imitating the noise his cat makes when having his temperature taken "the old fashioned way" sends the audience into stitches and there’s plenty of cruder material on farts and sex to bring the set back down to earth.
Moloney projects a curmudgeonly persona in his act (“I wake up annoyed and go to bed annoyed”), but there’s enough of a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky grin or two to persuade you otherwise. A charismatic comic with plenty of well-crafted, measured gags; there’s something very gentlemanly about his stand-up, even with the fart jokes. It’s unlikely to shock or provoke any extreme reactions but it’s delivered with a finesse and subtlety that attests to years of fine-tuning.
John Moloney: Butterflies and Stretchmarks is at the Leicester Square Lounge until Saturday 19th March
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