Fantastic and brilliantly crafted stand-up!Summary
Rating
Excellent!
I’m ‘super excited’ to tell you that you should go and watch Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America right now. This 60-minute stand-up comedy is truly hilarious with its dry, tongue-in-cheek humour.
From starting with the song ‘Born in the USA’ to the audience chanting “Sandwich Guy”, this comedy show begins and ends in belly laughter. Reflecting on Kieran Hodgson’s career as an actor, particularly his role as Sandwich Guy in The Flash movie, Hodgson digs into his failing acting career and how his “super excited” American agent told him his American accent didn’t sound American enough. This leads to side-splittingly funny jokes about what it even means to sound American.
Truly, the most remarkable thing about the show is that no matter what your political beliefs are about America’s past or present, everybody will find it humorous. This is due to Hodgson’s ingenious writing. You don’t have to understand what Bush was like as a president to be able to get the jokes. It’s so magnificently written that it’s already funny; not many comedians could manage this in such a delightful way. The writing is extremely clever, particularly the circular narrative of storylines. What is at the heart of the piece (Hodgson’s relatable failing acting career and the need to sound “more American”) is always returned to for more laughter.
From the Charleston to the Civil War, Hodgson’s stage presence and energy never miss a beat. A great example of this is when he is doing impressions. His impression of Margaret Thatcher talking to a four-year-old was my favourite. There are not enough positive adjectives to describe how mind-blowingly funny (and accurate) his impressions are of different politicians. This is something Hodgson has truly mastered.
The only slight criticism I can give is that, during the latter half, the pacing does slightly drop. I’m not sure if this is because, as an audience member, you start to understand Hodgson’s style of humour and writing or something else. But slightly towards the last 15 to 20 minutes, there seems to be more explanation of something needed for the joke to land. But despite this minor factor, the whole show is very funny and makes for a perfect outing.
If you want an evening full of laughter about America’s politics, and a reminder of how hard it is for any actor trying to make it there, Hodgson’s show is fantastic and brilliantly crafted.
Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America plays at Soho Theatre until Saturday 28 June.
