Claire Hooper Presents “School Camp” At The Garden Of Unearthly Delights – Adelaide Fringe Review

The Garden Of Unearthly Delights’ Cupola, Thu Mar 5 She appears onstage, in the dark, lit only by an upward pointing torch, and proceeds to tell THAT scary story - you know, the one about the broken down car on a dark and lonely road, the boyfriend who runs off to get help, the “thud, thud, thud” on the roof... Then, breaking the spell, Hooper welcomes us to the show and proceeds to spend most of her time discussing (in order) her first experience with an erect penis, life as a mum of a 12-month-old, her vagina, and her period. Some of her stories did involve school camp, many did not. Her style is conversational, and she seems to ‘pause and ponder’ rather a lot before speaking, which does get a little annoying after a while. Many of her stories were indeed funny - her reading from the ‘naughty book’ smuggled out of the school library was hilarious - however too many flat spots interrupted the evening’s flow. Part of the problem seems to be Hooper’s agenda for the night - her show appeared to be less about making her audience laugh than exhorting us to teach our children never to keep a secret. The show draws to an end with this message as Hooper finishes an earlier story about one of her teachers and her best girlfriend. At camp… It's a great message and I had no problem with it, but it wasn't exactly comic material and really didn't allow for much of a finale. Hooper closes by ending THAT spooky story, but there was no big moment beyond a few giggles. Claire Hooper – School Camp continues at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights’ Cupola from 8.30pm until Sun Mar 15. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. Image courtesy of James Penlidis