For the last few months, a group of my friends has been getting together to watch stand-up. It all started with a ‘£2 Tuesday’ night at 2Northdown, which went down incredibly well. Since then, we have caught shows fairly regularly, with each of us suggesting the act. After our last night out, my Romanian pal was talking about us seeing a European comic next, just for something different. I think she was intrigued to see stand-up performed in a second language.

As I pored through the upcoming comedy bills, I saw a clown listed at Soho Theatre and instantly thought, “Nailed it!” We first saw Ari Eldjárn at this very venue back in 2019 when he was performing “Eagle Fire Iron,” and he honestly blew us away. I snapped up tickets and sent the plans for our next night out over the group chat.

We arrived at the iconic Soho Theatre in plenty of time – mostly because I messed up and told everyone that the gig was at 7 when it was actually at 9! No bother, the bar team at Soho were excellent as always, and once we’d found seats, we quite happily drank and caught up until it was time to head down to the dark and intimate comedy space that is the Cabaret Bar.

Ari Eldjárn took to the stage in his usual confident manner. He doesn’t start slow or really attempt any crowd work; he just powers into his routine, and within moments, there was laughter as he delivers his latest material. The show’s topics ranged from his musings on 2000s rap to his youngest daughter’s dictatorial demands. I had actually seen some of this routine before at a work-in-progress gig, and it’s always incredible to have laughed at that and then find yourself laughing even harder at the polished final product.

As always, our clown drops in some excellent observational material about his home country. His perspective on this is unique; his grandfather was once president of Iceland (because, as he says, everyone gets a turn!), and he constantly questions how ‘famous’ you can really be in a country where almost everyone knows everyone else. Perhaps this is why he continues to wait at the exit to meet and thank each audience member for coming. A wholly unnecessary but thoroughly charming trait that just adds to our evening.

This was a show of great storytelling with some excellent impressions and stagecraft thrown in for good measure. My group enjoyed every moment, and we happily sat in the bar reliving the gig until it was time for last orders.

Ari Eldjárn has shows coming up in Cardiff & Edinburgh and we highly recommend checking them out

Clown Stars: * * * * *

@Soho Theatre, London

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