With a backdrop of a projector screen showing a random doodle or drawing every few minutes, Dylan Moran took to the stage. With tousled hair, wearing a plain black suit and with a glass of wine at hand you wonder if this might be an in-character performance as Bernard Black, but i'll come to that later.

Moran has the entire audience, a sold-out crowd of around 1200 in this case, in the palm of his hand within minutes.  As he takes off his jacket, sips at his wine and lights up a cigarette there is an air of confidence and of being at ease with his surroundings that even the most seasoned stand-up fan could not fail to notice.

Late-comers are suitably chastised, hecklers are put down without so much as breaking stride and a man who enquired: "Where's Bill Bailey?", evidently expecting the full cast of Black Books to be in attendance, was put firmly in his place, all to the delight of the captivated crowd.

The topics Moran covers, as he sips some more wine and lights up another cigarette, are pretty much standard fare for most observational comedians and he drifts through the likes of religion, kids, music, smoking and drinking and so on.  What sets him apart from his peers however is his darkness.  Black humour and scathing cynicism make for a truly compelling couple of hours.

It's hard to say how much of this cynicism is the "real Dylan" and how much of it is an on-stage character, but it's clear to see where the Black Books character of Bernard Black came from.  If we can assume that the character of Bernard was an extreme self-caricature then it's safe to say that Moran's stage persona is the same, but perhaps with some of the more unpleasant qualities left at the bookshop.

What's certain is that Dylan Moran is up there with the best of them.  While fans knowing him only for his on screen persona will delight in seeing an "almost-Bernard" on stage before them, regular comedy-goers will also be in for a real treat.