It had been THAT kind of day, the kind of day that makes you want your first ‘cocktail’ of the evening to be half a bottle of Zybrowka and ten packs of Paramol! Thankfully my comedy pal had other ideas and it turned out that what I actually needed was just a really good laugh… and a far less life threatening couple of vodkas.

I have never seen this particular European clown live before (I did actually look up the German word for clown to try and be clever but sadly…. it’s ‘clown’. No smart-arse points for me today!) but in the short bursts that I have caught him on TV he has always managed to get a chuckle out of me.

Henning stormed the stage from the back of the auditorium like a wacky-waving-inflatable-tube-man. Maybe the burst of energy was due to him being surprisingly late for a German – a point he quickly addressed by blaming the tardiness of a British audience. When you are a German clown performing to a London audience the gags almost write themselves. That being said,  Henning has a delivery method that is all his own and manages to eke out the best possible result from even the most predictable of material.

He quickly explained the shows format – there would be a first half, then a second half followed by penalties, which we would lose (gag). He then called out the Germans in the audience and proceeded to deliver a couple of minutes of banter exclusively in German, ignoring the fact that no-one else understands… You can already see where he is going with this one.

After a first half of interaction and banter the second half of the show was actually ‘the show as written’; Henning wanted to discuss Brexit from the perspective of someone who is totally ambivalent about the whole thing… but just wishes they would ‘get on with it’.

Henning’s gags are hardly original but this is a clown who makes his money with his delivery. He is not playing a superior German, nor is he play an apologist one – this clown is just 100% himself. His material comes from an honest place with the sole intention of making us laugh, he has an endearing quality that comes across from the get-go and quickly gets an audience on side.

The funniest moment for me was actually a simple throw-away comment where Henning pointed out that there wasn’t a German word for ‘chubster’ but that they do have a word that they use in the same vein, which translates to ‘a tank made of chips’.

This clown is a good, solid, hard-working stand-up and he definitely provided me with the laugh that I so desperately needed on this night. It’s not quite a 4* show but it might be the best 3* I’ve ever seen. If you are new to live stand-up and fancy playing safe, of if you are just in need of good clean entertainment then this clown is well worth the price of admission.

Clown Stars: * * *

 @Leicester Square Theatre, London