Live Comedy
Mr Chonkers
Where to start with Mr Chonkers? Well, he's the alter ego of John Norris, an American clown, improviser, absurdist, and nominee for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality - among other accolades. Norris's website includes an 'FAQ' section with well over twenty enquiries, including 'Is he friendly?' and 'What planet does he live on?'. It reveals that he has been in dozens of adverts and is a trained mime artist and is based out of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But because of the way Americans talk, we can take 'out of' to mean 'in'. He's now embarking on his first ever UK tour, and who knows what to expect.
Also, in 2009 he ate and digested an entire Kia Forte.
But what of 'Mr Chonkers' itself? Well, it has been an Edinburgh phenomenon, landing in a super late-night slot in 2022 and becoming a word-of-mouth sensation, initially just from the recommendations of other comics. It returned to the Fringe for a series of completely sold-out performances and now embarks on a first-ever, strictly-limited tour of the UK (along with shows in Paris and Amsterdam and probably some we don't even know about).
The show is both a mockery and celebration of performance. An important waste of your time. Absurd. Simple. Outrageous. Stupid. And a lot of fun. Please consider all this information carefully before coming.
'More and more people in our insane world are craving a real live experience,' writes the man himself - or some version of him - 'not just having performances done at them, but done with them. The audience is participating in the show, and their energy - sorry, I just got so bored and I think I have to finish this later.'
That's as much help as we can really give you. Don't miss the first UK-wide performances of this unique nonsense. Or you'll never know what we're talking about.
2025 dates
7 February - Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh.
9 February - The Grub, Manchester.
10 February - Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds.
15 February - Mezrab, Amsterdam.
23 February - Kibele, Paris.
27 February - The Alma, Bristol.
4 March - Moth Club, London.
15 March - Komedia, Brighton.