Review by Lauren
Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
After a fabulous pantomime season starring in Dick Whittington as the titular character and his beatboxing cat, Jarred Christmas and Jack Hobbs, ‘Hobbit’, make a side-splitting return to De Montfort Hall, as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival line-up.
On the Leicester Comedy Festival’s website, this show is categorised under ‘stand up’, and I can’t say I hugely agree; we were really watching two old friends having a great time together and letting us join in with the fun!
Jarred’s introductory routine quickly had everyone laughing, mainly at the expense of the unfortunate latecomers, but hey, if you’re going to draw attention to yourself at one of Jarred’s gigs…beware! Many members of the front row also became integral to the show, including an excellent sport, Donna, or ‘Big D’. Jarred has an excellent knack for instantly befriending entire auditoriums with his signature swagger and integral ability to build a solid rapport. Additionally, I really admire Jarred’s unapologetically silly nature; goofy dancing and self-deprecating humour included. This cocktail of talents is what makes him a returning pantomime star of De Montfort Hall, as well as an award-winning stand-up comedian.
Now, if you know beatboxing, you’ll agree with me on this, but if you aren’t familiar with the artform, it’s well worth watching. A World Beatbox Champion and UK Loopstation Champion, fewer performers can surprise, amaze and entertain audiences quite like Hobbit can. It’s really interesting to watch Jarred and Hobbit perform together since both are in their element in different ways- whilst Jarred is running through the stalls, cracking jokes and getting up close and personal with the punters, Hobbit is up on stage with his Loopstation remixing all different sounds and music styles provided by the audience, truly vibing like he’s performing for Glastonbury. Both of them appear completely at home and their long-standing friendship is evident.
The evening only got more chaotic as it went along. The duo started by creating songs based on audience members’ lives, and then went on to prove just how sexy biscuits can be. This routine in particular had everyone in stitches, and I’m sure it has boosted biscuit sales everywhere in time for Valentine’s Day! The second half of the night followed a game show structure reminiscent of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Contestants went head-to-head to win truly incredible prizes, such as toilet roll, a rubber chicken and a mysterious object of a questionable shape… ‘Big D’ owned the first round, a series of multiple-choice questions, competing against adorably clueless Jay and birthday boy Mark. This round was possibly my favourite. The next round required us to share our best animal facts, and the final round was a classic ‘guess the song’…with Hobbit remixing a twist or two in there.
With this immersive, chaotic and somewhat humble show, Jarred and Hobbit make audience members feel special, silly and hungry for more. Captain Comedy! Is truly one-of-a-kind and I would urge you to see future performances.
You can follow Jarred on Instagram to find where he is performing.
Post a Comment