When asked if I wanted a ticket for Adam Hills at the Norwich Playhouse, I just said yes. I didn't read the blurb in the brochure. My entire thought process was, I like him, book it.
And I do like him. In fact, he is notoriously likeable. He comes across as genuinely warm and his comedy is inspired by a real love of people and life.
But when I finally did read the blurb for "Adam Hills: Mess Around" my heart sank. The one word which haunted the description (whilst not being part of it) was 'Impro'.
Okay, it's only fair if I say right now that I am not a big fan of Impro. I know some people (actually a lot of people) love it. There are two reasons why I don't...
1) While it is an amazing skill to be able to think up witticisms on the spot (and comics definitely get extra laughs for that) it is quite rare that those witty responses are better than carefully crafted jokes.
2) Similarly, material generated out of banter with the audience or via tweets is also extremely unlikely to be funnier/more interesting/better told than highly polished and neatly edited comic routines.
Admittedly, Adam Hills had warned anyone who read the brochure what his show was going to be like - but even he seemed a bit apologetic for the looseness of the structure at times. He is a skilled improviser and carries the audience with him but the whole thing lost momentum whenever he pulled out his mobile phone.
For me, the frustrating thing was that I really enjoyed the pre-written part of the show - the big set-piece stories he told. I could have listened to him tell stories all night. I just wish he'd done that.
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