I was told that Swedish clown Carl-Einar Hackner was going to put his hand in a blender last night. In fact he put his entire act in a blender, mixing magic with quirky songs to produce an easily digestible variety show that was both very modern and utterly traditional.
Hackner has been likened to Mr Bean but a better comparison is Tommy Cooper - if Tommy Cooper wore a sequinned Elvis jump suit rather than a Fez. Stumbling and mumbling, this striking Viking quickly wedged a baguette-sized harmonica in his mouth sideways. And that was just the warm-up.
What followed was beautifully stupid, ranging from slickly executed cup-ball illusions to new twists on the old magic ring routine and a sadistic bunny-roasting version of the rabbit-in-a-hat classic.
Rubber chickens, Jaggeresque lips and other joke-shop staples sustained the lunatic energy.
It was a shame that some closing parodic folk music slowed things just as Hackner should have built to a climax. He made amends, however, with an encore that was low on mystery, big on knives and ketchup-hued gore. Magnificent, mindless fun.
Until tomorrow, then 10-12 December (020 7482 4857, www.etceteratheatre.com).
Carl-Einar Hackner
Etcetera Theatre
Camden High Street, NW1 7BU
