Award winning Happy Hour podcast toured to Middlesbrough last week (May 4) in an extension of their UK tour.
The show took place in The Crypt inside Middlesbrough’s Town Hall, as the hosts joked they “didn’t sell enough tickets to be in the big room.”
Hosted by friends Jack Dean (known as JaackMaate), Stevie White and Robbie Knox with a short appearance by Alfie Indra, the gang replicated their popular podcast features on the tour including ‘urban legends’ and getting ‘all caught up’.
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The three burst on to the stage and quickly won over the audience, making comedic jabs at Middlesbrough and discussed their opinion on parmos, a local delicacy from the town.
Segments included getting all caught up with the audience and each other, an urban legend about the ‘sticky back beast’ of Middlesbrough and then audience confessions that were submitted to an ominous yellow box in the foyer.
With podcasts, especially comedy podcasts, it’s often hard to tell whether the chemistry you hear can translate to reality – especially when an audience is involved.
There is always that worry that the audience either won’t get the joke, feel like they can’t laugh or simply don’t like the material.
However, I wasn’t disappointed when the hosts had such a natural chemistry with not only each other but also with the audience, effortlessly using jokes from earlier in the set including a constant gag about ‘going to aldi’.
Between Jack, Stevie and Robbie, they know their audience and they have them in the palm of their hand as they hang on every joke and quip.
The show overall was a perfect mix of the trio chatting in true podcast style but also involving the audience, playing off the reactions of the front row as they often struggled to contain their own laughter.
I can’t think of a moment in the show when I wasn’t laughing, wether it was at the plight of my fellow attendees or at the flawless chemistry of the three as they evoked charm and seemed down to earth throughout the set.
Overall, I’d give the show 4.5 stars out of a possible five – and would happily attend another Happy Hour tour in the future.
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