“Hoodwinked” is part game show, part conversation. Hosted by Mark Jones, the show sees six guest comedians on stage, each answering a variety of obscure questions, trying to fool (or hoodwink) the other comedians into believing their own answers while also trying to figure out the correct answers themselves. The rules were explained briefly but it was mainly left up to the audience to figure out how it worked as it went along, which is not in itself a bad thing, the brevity in administration at this point allowing more room for the humour to bubble through.
There was a fair bit of firepower the night I went, with Tom Gleeson, Fiona O’Loughlin, Bob Franklin, Charlie Pickering, Janelle Koenig and Danny McGinlay all gracing the stage. Initially the laughs came and came thickly, but as the game progressed there was more a sense, as an audience member, of being on the outside of a private conversation that was being conducted on stage. The comedians themselves all did well, but the format doesn’t lend itself to live entertainment and the content failed to glean the best out of these performers. Mark Jones himself had a big job to do and although he made a reasonable fist of things, he failed to channel the energy and humour of the panel on stage through to the audience, instead becoming part of the insular conversation going on onstage. The notion of being on the outside of someone else’s conversation was further enunciated as the night progressed and it became apparent that the group laughing the most were those on stage. The show takes place in The Comedy Club which is a large venue and it did occur to me that it would really benefit from happening in more intimate surroundings, possibly giving the audience more of a chance to feel part of the proceedings.
The content of the game was initially amusing but remained unchanged for the hour and half duration of the show. The basic concept simply isn’t strong enough to sustain the full length of the show and the tedium began to show very quickly, particularly as the audience started leaving in groups at a time. The administration of the game was also clunky, with the momentum being constantly interrupted.
All that being said, “Hoodwinked” has some really great line ups coming up and judging on the night I was there, there will be some great moments to be witnessed. The performances of the group I saw still shone through brightly with some really big laughs. With that kind of talent onstage it’s hard to imagine there not being laughs, however the format and the administration of that format are flawed, and detract from the potential of this show.
For booking details go to Hoodwinked