Cirque du Hilarious at the Parr Hall Warrington Review
Cirque du Hilarious
Parr Hall, Warrington
9 October 2016
Reviewed by Jan Mellor
I thought the show would be a nice thing for my 12 year old to see, and by the number of children in the theatre as we entered I felt I would be right. However, by the number of adults without children in the seats – maybe it would be entertaining for the adults as well. As we entered there was merchandise that included t-shirts, posters and badges all showing the two main characters from the show Danny and Clive, spinning neon wheels and even a talking ‘Danny’ toy (this may be cheesier than imagined – I thought!).
The show started at a great pace with 4 professional dancers and the ‘ringmaster – Clive Webb, a man in circus attire with a huge smile and bright blue eyes. He first asked how many people in the audience had seen their show and I was surprised to see that about 75% raised their hands. Having wished someone in the audience a happy birthday – the show began. There were several entertaining tricks – the usual woman being put in a box with swords, a man put into a box and electrocuted into a skeleton and a man appearing behind a black screen with different aids. Then the place came alive with the appearance of Danny Adams – wearing a bright multi-coloured suit. He told one line jokes one after another and then brought out a fire extinguisher, raining toilet roll and throwing lettuce leaves (being a post man throwing ‘letters’) – had the crowd screeching with delight. There were constant punchlines that were fast and furious (and some risky jokes for the adults). There were explosions, a gymnastic with a bow and arrow (who drew the bow with her feet and her mouth), wizards, boxing robots, cannons, burlesque dancers, magic sessions were real doves were made to appear and disappear, and interjections by a great singer to bring it all together. The show was very unpredictable and kept all the audience in excited anticipation.
Some of the real highlights of the show was when there was audience participation by way of three ‘dads and a mum’ who got on stage as the Teletubbies, (it ended with them all having ‘custard-pies’ on their faces), the Elvis sing-off with two Elvis lookalikes, and when incredibly Danny ‘climbed’ into a massive orange balloon.
The character Danny Adams was absolutely amazing, a great mixture of Lee Evans and Norman Wisdom. He never slowed down and was both professional and charismatic. The four dancers were skilled and had great choreography, the co-stars were really talented and funny and the whole show was skilfully managed by the ringmaster. We haven’t laughed as much for years – a great afternoon of entertainment and somehow I came home with a talking Danny!!
I would definitely recommend this show for families and adults alike.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information and tour dates visit www.cirqueduhilarious.co.uk.
For more information about shows at the Parr Hall visit www.pyramidparrhall.com.
Pyramid & Parr Hall, Cultural Quarter, Palmyra Square South, Warrington, WA1 1BL | 01925 442884
