There’s a part of me that desperately wants Lawrence Mooney to be a great comedian. Having seen him perform years ago, if Mooney were ever to become a really big star then I’d be a trendsetter, a patron of the arts even. Sadly though, Mooney’s latest MICF offering confirms that I need to find new avenues of self-aggrandisement.
‘Lawrence Mooney is a Stupid Liar’ is an hour-long mix of telling, crafty humour and of cheap, locker-room jokes that appeal to the lowest common denominator in the audience. Mooney is best when he explores the humour in the everyday, using his knack for timing and expression to illuminate characters. Jokes about binge-eating and the anxiety of using public toilets were right on the mark in Stupid Liar.
However, too often Mooney strayed from his own proven formula, managing to insult women, homosexuals and Jews. A gag about Christopher Pyne’s annoying voice quickly escalated into Mooney simulating Pyne giving head while simultaneously having anal sex. While this joke started good and ended badly, others, like Mooney’s imagined chocolate-breasted masturbation party, didn’t even get off to a good start.
All in all, Mooney’s good jokes weren’t enough to save this show from a litany of crass, offensive ones. Mooney’s last show was called ‘Lawrence Mooney is Pretty Funny’. It’s quite fitting that he should choose to follow this with a show titled ‘Lawrence Mooney is a Stupid Liar’.
