Carl-Einer Häckner returns to the fringe after a seven year absence with his new show Handluggage. A variety show containing stand-up comedy, singing, magic and physical comedy, the show was not without its problems
One of the main problems was that whilst his punch lines were funny, the jokes themselves were far too meandering with the audience losing interest before the end. In particular a story about seeing Mötley Crüe’s Johnny Sixx in Camden town effectively dragged on for 15 minutes before any sniff of a punchline. The majority of his stand-up comedy was cliche, based on the ‘weirdness’ of his accent and it quickly wore thin. Furthermore, it was sometimes difficult to understand exactly what his jokes were trying to get at.
However, there were definitely aspects of the show that worked. The magic tricks were effortlessly performed and entertaining to boot. He also had a pretty strong grasp on the physical comedy he used and it was probably this that garnered the most laughs from the audience.
Overall, there were parts that worked and parts that didn’t. The show had a very scattergun approach and this feels like an inevitability rather than a choice. Häckner was entertaining but it wasn’t for the right reasons.
