It was a mid week night in Soho and I have to say that it felt good to have some live comedy on the schedule. My comedy pal for the evening and I had decided to bar crawl our way to the Soho Theatre and on that journey we had discovered the Illicium Sour (yes, more Absinthe!) which had warmed our spirits immensely and definitely put us in the mood for a good laugh.

We arrived at the theatre and I was chuffed to discover that we were in the main room (one of our favourite London spaces), I’m still not sold on having numbered seats but that really is a minor point.

My hopes were high but as we took our seats during the intro music I found myself asking a question of a friend that I honestly never thought I would, just four simple words that had never left my mouth before… “is that Icelandic rap?”

Ari takes to the stage with confidence and purpose, he may be new to most of us but be in no doubt that this is a highly polished clown who has honed his craft and routines over many years. There is no time to work the room, we have a jokes to get to and a lot to pack in to the hour!

The opening Icelandic material is an obvious gambit but it’s delivered in such a way that makes it instantly relatable to a room full of people, most of whom probably only know the country because they knocked England out of Euro 2016 – yes that gets a modest mention.

The football routine actually highlights an unexpected weapon in this clowns arsenal, his ability to mimic. His range of British and American accents is note perfect and adds a delightful twist to his Scandinavian material – including the aforementioned Icelandic rap scene and his part time ‘diplomatic’ role as Iceland’s ambassadorial court jester.

This was a powerhouse hour of comedy and we laughed a lot. Having our clown for the evening end his show by bounding up the stairs in order to shake hands and thank everyone for coming is also something that will never get old.

I have seen and enjoyed a number of “fish out of water” routines this year (Yuriko Kotani still a highlight) and this is easily among the best and topped off an incredibly enjoyable evening. In short, no iron, no eagle but plenty of fire!

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Soho Theatre, London