Tom Moran Is A Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 28 August

Tom Moran Is A Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar is essentially an hour-long therapy session for its Dublin-based writer and performer – but a smartly written, wryly witty and profoundly piercing one. It won influential Irish company Fishamble’s New Writing Award after its 2022 run at Dublin Fringe Festival and it is easy to see why: this is an honest, angsty and amusing show about mental health.

The show starts like a standup gig, with a mic stood on an empty stage. Moran bounds out and starts chatting. He tells a funny story about trying to skip school by pretending he had stomach pain, then sticking with his story all the way to the operating table. Slowly, the tone shifts. Moran tells more stories about awful things he has done, lies he has told, and girlfriends he has led on. He talks about his problems

with alcohol and food, his desire to be loved, his relationship with his parents, and his traumatic childhood. He bares his deepest fears and darkest thoughts.

This might seem unpalatably self-indulgent were it not for Moran’s superb performance – under Davey Kelleher’s direction, he hides his pain beneath a beaming grin, often puncturing the tension with a well-judged joke – and because he manages to spin his own experiences into something universally relatable. “Give me a cheer if you aren’t sure your dad loves you!” he asks in a repeating riff. “Now give me a cheer if you aren’t entirely sure you love your dad!”

Perhaps this is just the latest in a long line of lies, but Moran’s authentic angst suggests otherwise. It suggests instead that he has been on an emotional odyssey and emerged the other side a happier, healthier person, and now wants to share his story with an audience to encourage them do the same. We are happy to hear it.