Adam Hills Clown Heart Review

Optimistic, light-hearted and fuelled with compassion is the only way I can think to describe Adam Hills at the best of times, and his latest tour of Clown Heart was certainly no exception.

Usually, I am a fan of darker and more twisted style of comedy, which probably says far too much about me as a person, but as an avid fan of the Channel Four talk show The Last Leg, I jumped at the chance to see the host, Adam Hills, live, despite my scepticism. On the show, Hills is undoubtedly smart and quick-thinking, and yet when piling into the theatre, I couldn’t help but starting to feel a growing anxiety that he would be the sort of comedian who is great on TV, but, for lack of a better word, disappointing when live.

Obviously, I was quickly proven wrong. 

The show started with a support act, who also completely blew all of my expectations out of the water. Ian Coppinger, who dare I say is the newfound king of improvisation, should definitely be a household name by now. With witty remarks and hilarious stories, it felt like listening to your drunken uncle for thirty minutes (in a good way), as he certainly got the crowd going, and his level of recall was completely out of this world. I can’t even remember what I've had for breakfast most days, and yet he was able to keep jokes running throughout his set, and by the end of it, I’m pretty sure I had gained a six pack from laughing.

After a short interval, Adam Hills graced the stage, and it only took him around three minutes to get distracted. I saw him in Southampton, and as part of this show, he appeared to go off on a twenty-minute tangent as he projected tweets from his phone onto the big screen, a lot of which were heckles in regard to how Australians play sports. Although some of the audience seemed to get a bit fed up with this seemingly unplanned act, I certainly found it very amusing, especially when he was firstly trying to use his phone (which was in the style of a typical parent), as well as when he showed his phone's passcode to a crowded theatre. I should however note, there is nothing more terrifying than sitting next to your parents and praying that your tweets do not appear for them to see!   

After this, he moved on to his main part of the show, discussing an array of topics from cancer, to dieting, and, of course, his family life. I think the main reason why all of this was so successful though was that it didn’t feel like you were at a show. Instead, it felt more like you were having a laugh with an old friend, and his audience interaction skills were certainly on par with some of the greats.

Although some parts, such as the stripping at the end, were hilariously awkward when sitting with your parents, the overall show felt so relaxed, and his sense of optimism certainly spreads around the theatre. The show has a real feel good factor about it and is certainly something that could only be achieved by someone as Adam Hills, and I truly hope that it comes out on DVD, just to shed a little bit of light in this darkening world that we live in.