This is the continued story of what happens when a clown walks out on stage for the first time in over 12 weeks (cheers Covid) and finds himself having to perform to an audience made up exclusively of extras from ‘Herbie Goes Bananas‘.

This is a part two of a two-part review – the first features clown Kai Humphries and a lot more information about the Drive-in Club and how we ended up there.

So here we are, sat in our nice warm cars with surprisingly comfy seats, as Daniel Sloss – dressed not unlike Jared Nomak of Blade II fame – braves the wind and rain to take his place on stage and perform to a selection of blank windscreens.

‘If my agent had offered me this gig in January… she’d have been fired on the spot!’ Normally, that opening at a show would not be a good sign but here it is met with an orchestra of encouraging honks. We all get it, this clown had been used to sold out venues, Netflix specials and performing around the world.

Yet tonight, thanks to a global pandemic, he is in a shopping centre car park with the Brent Cross flyover providing the venue’s support acoustics… and he seems genuinely thrilled to be here.

12 weeks without performing, 12 weeks without attention – it must get to a clown. Daniel Sloss seems to need to shake off a little rust and Kai Humphries has bought him the time to do so, the audience is with him from the start and as he begins to move through the gears his natural ability comes to the fore.

Even though he’s sat still in the wind and rain he’s fully engaged with this vehicular crowd. The language is foul, the topics get dark but the routine is strong – this is what I had been missing.

This is tried and tested material, exactly what you need for a night like this. Mocking Americans, complimenting British and Irish people’s ability to swear better than anyone in the world and the reality of having his girlfriend work from home due to coronavirus and discovering just how lazy he actually is.

A personal highlight was the Japanese material, his experience of Tokyo and the fantastic people that you meet out there. I have never personally managed to make someone ‘Whoa-Po’ but I do hope to see it one day.

As our evening nears a close our clown starts to tell his final joke and realises that he cannot, for the life of him, remember the punchline. Some would call it a night at that but Daniel has a better idea, he pulls up a second chair and drags Kai back up on stage for some talk-show-style back-and-forth where they tell a couple of tales from the road.

These guys have been touring together for years and the banter between them is warm, genuine, abusive and incredibly funny. This impromptu ending was my favourite part of the evening and, in my opinion, made for the perfect ending to this unique performance.

As we filed out, past the cars with flat batteries, and started our drive home I can say that I had had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and I truly cannot wait for stand-up to fully return.

Clown Stars: (-unrated-)

@ Drive-In Club (Brent Cross), London