You may know Claire Hooper as the nice one on Good News Week. She is nice and her show is nice. This is a pretty safe show to take your aunty to. Last year I sensed a pretty dark undertone to her otherwise cheerful show about dealing with ‘mild’ depression despite appearing to have a blessed and glamorous life. I felt that if she’d really reached down into the dark she may have found an extraordinary show. But I don’t think wallowing in darkness is really in her nature.
It was lovely catching up with Hoops again. Like meeting a friend at a BBQ that you don’t get to see enough of. I was glad to hear she’s moved out of the grotty place in North Melbourne into a nicer place in Brunswick with her new husband. Glad to hear that he organises sweet funny surprises for her and makes her laugh. There’s nothing worse for me than listening to a comedian bagging their spouse. If I had one bone to pick with her it was that she had some great pictures to illustrate her funny tales, but they were on her phone! Only those in the front couple of rows got to enjoy them. She needs a PowerPoint screen or maybe she could just blow up some prints!
Her show was about little things that annoy her like parking tickets, pimples, Sat Navs, knickknacks and the coming apocalypse. What? Well she’d been frightened by watching the film ‘The Road’. She brings it up every now and again for a laugh but there’s no need to worry, it didn’t overwhelm the general cheeriness. Her theme was that, yes, there are lots of little things in the world that drive us crazy but there are lots of small things can make it all worthwhile. Her greatest proof in point is the campaign to save the orang-utan by signing a petition to parliament about palm oil. She had a box of petitions for us to collect at the end.
The highlights of the show for me were the two musical numbers. The first one was announced as a rap that made my heart sink but turned out to be some side splittingly, sharp, slamming about getting your shit together. Claire has also written a really nice song for the big finale. This is a lovely show to see after a hard days work, you will laugh, you won’t be picked on and you will come out feeling all warm and happy.
Claire Hooper – One Small Thing runs until April 18th. Visit the comedy festival website for bookings and further details.