Sloot: A wonderfully funny slice of delicious Dublinese
Book review: The main character in Ian Macpherson’s witty novel is facing up to the decline of his stand-up career
Ian Macpherson: comic energy of voice
Back in the day Ian Macpherson was a stand-up with a killer opening line for wherever he played, eg Cheltenham: “They say you play Cheltenham twice – once on the way up... once on the way down. It’s great to be back.”
He has since turned away from stand-up to writing and Sloot (this fantastic word derives from a north Dublin pronunciation of “sleuth”) is his latest and begins with a stand-up’s last stand: “For every stand-up, there’s a moment where you realise you’ll never get that kind of laughter again, that the world has shifted imperceptibly on it’s axis, and this was Hayden’s moment. The generational handover moment. Nothing to be done. Move on.”