I thought I knew somewhat what to expect from Early Midnight Circus when I read the description “humorous hurricane where everything can (and will) go wrong, so prepare for a night of wild interviews, absurd surprises, audience-ambushing segments, musical mayhem and a crew determined to derail everything.”

I was wrong!!!

The chaos begins as I enter Circus Bar to be greeted by Ralph Hilaga donning a crop top, short shorts and a sign that says ‘union guy’, and told where the bar and bathrooms are. I can hear shouting and I am informed by host Aaron James Douglas that this is a live studio set before he runs off to yell at his producer Garth (Kipling DC).

It soon becomes apparent that most of the people around me are in character and cannot be counted on for normal conversation, causing some interesting pre-show chats. “Do my nostrils burn like his?” asks Douglas before running back to his producer, and then I am randomly asked if I am a bounty hunter by Joel Luscombe who is also donning a crop top and ‘union guy’ sign.

As more show goers arrive, we determine who is not acting and sit in a ‘safe’ zone among the chairs, it is refreshing to have civilised conversations amid the chaos.

I am approached by Elliott Lam, who I discover is acting as a critic named Austin. He asks me what I think of the show so far. I can’t remember what I said, but he immediately misquotes me in his tiny notebook.

Time for the actual show to start and Douglas introduces us to his intern Morrison (Malcolm Morrison) who is in charge of tech, props and the applause sign. We also meet Ed Sheeran and the Early Midnight Circus band… except this is Ned Sheeran (Matt Hutton) and there is no band, just Hutton.

The first of the three guests, Mog Connolly enters munching on popcorn from their pocket. Co-host Keegan Thomas pours them a diet coke then drops in some Mentos hoping for disaster but Connolly is too fast and drinks the foaming drink before it overflows.

Lam barges into the crowd pushing seats aside, declares, “I’m the critic!” and sits in the front row.

Ding! DC has a bell for timekeeping and he wants everyone to know that it’s his birthday and he had this space booked originally for his party and also his stag do, but no-one has shown up.

Speaking of booking the space, Lydia Sainsbury rushes in and proclaims she has the space booked for her Mimes Mimefulness Workshop (coz mimes need to look after their wellbeing too) and then leaves with anyone there for the workshop.

As Connolly and Douglas are chatting away, Hilaga appears with a boom mic precariously dangling from its pole and is smashing it into people’s faces whilst declaring union rights with Luscombe who is filming, or not as he hasn’t hit record.

It is worth noting that Felix Uallach is actually filming the show, but I overhear audience members who can’t see his camera screen thinking he’s just pretending as well.

Mo Munn and Q Potts enter and are handed wet M&Ms by Thomas before dropping them into the Mentos coke still on the table. DC is playing the game Guess Who with himself, now wearing a birthday party hat, and he is looking sad. Lam is now openly stating his critiques, and Thomas is munching on a tomato as Douglas announces this is a game show and whoever loses will eat a tomato as the punishment, much to Munn’s disgust!

There is a show-and-tell segment where only Connolly has bought something to show: a dirty napkin from their blazer pocket. Potts takes off his hat and his newly bald head shines so bright that Luscombe’s camera exposure is ruined.

Potts is now Professor Q-Non-Anon and is showing us a slideshow about the Trolley Problem in which he is faced with multiple scenarios of who to kill with the trolley, and he kills the wrong person every time, but saves his cat! The dramatic music in this scene is brilliant with Hutton setting the tone.

Another case of an overbooked venue has Sainsbury sitting in the audience holding a puppet, asking if this is the self-taxidermy class. I don’t want to know what self-taxidermy means but it sounds grim.

The three contestants must now promote a movie given to them in 30 seconds and each time Thomas provides fun facts about the movie, whether we want them or not. Munn gets The Godfather (previously a theme for one of their Catfish Trifecta shows), Potts gets Mamma Mia, and Connolly gets Beautiful Disaster as well as far more than 30 seconds to promote it.

Thomas skulls back the M&M and Mentos filled coke to everyone’s disgust and Connolly says, “That’s feral as fuck,” which is bold coming from them.

The points so far are Munn on -50, Potts on -7 and Connolly on 478. Munn is not impressed.

Intermission is called, though everyone stays in character so it is only an intermission for the audience who are treated to Sainsbury teaching us long division with a puppet and slideshow.

During intermission I am also approached by fellow critic Lam to compare notes in which I am once again misquoted and he is now using a book to write notes in. When asked about their lead in points, Connolly amusingly says to me, “Well we can’t have Mo or Q win.”

Back to it and Connolly is now wrongly being called Ginge not Minge and we are treated to ‘Shape of You’ by Hutton who insists it’s definitely an original and not Ed Sheeran’s song. He is looking for a bass player, if any of the audience plays bass.

The Newlywed Game is started and it appears that Munn and Potts do not know each other as well as they should after three years of marriage, but as an actual newlywed, who am I to comment on that. Connolly is single but looking if there is anyone in the audience. Whilst this game is happening, Thomas is eating an entire cucumber peel first which is very distracting, disturbing, and simultaneously hilarious.

Sainsbury arrives again, this time for a birthday party/stag do and DC is so excited he grabs a bride headband and party hat, however, she is wanting Carl’s party not Garth’s, so leaves. Munn is once again disputing their points and an audience member is demanding justice for her. I am convinced he is a plant as he has been very vocal about Munn winning this show. I am informed, after, that he was not a plant, but I think this highlights how well the whole characters around the room joke is working, as it has had me questioning someone in the ‘safe zone’.

What a Tool has Munn and Connolly having to make a 1-legged table stable, naming themselves the DIY Dicks, despite the fact that Potts is in fact a builder (well project manager now). They are doing ok despite Lam’s latest critique of “Mog looks like they have held a hammer” now written on a giant pad.

Poor DC is really getting into character as sad and lonely producer Garth, and is currently playing Connect Four with himself and still managing to lose.

Miraculously, the DIY Dicks have nailed it (literally) and the table is stable. Time for an ad break where the contestants must promote things while Hilaga gyrates on the other contestants in order to get good audio with his boom mic. Hilaga is really shining as this very sexual, no boundaries, crew member and I’m not sure it’s even acting at this point.

Sainsbury enters in a sexy nightie ready to be in the ‘cuck chair’ which is another reference back to a Catfish Trifecta show. She is disappointed to learn she is in the wrong place, before leading a game called Name a Bigger Number. The aim is to, you guessed it, name a bigger number and Connolly wins with the number 9 as Luscombe yells, “Nina Hogg is crushing it” before being corrected.

A hilarious segment where the contestants have to impersonate a crowd member and Lam writes, “Mo impersonates a person of a different race” as she sits in front of a front row member Ryan and copies everything he does. Munn is banished from the competition and asked to join the audience.

There are crowd questions, in which we learn that Connolly is not ginger because they are in fact not Ginge, and there are a lot of jokes made about the movie Wicked.

Every good show has a musical number and this is no exception, so up gets Munn to sing about her lack of points and Connolly is accompanying Hutton’s keyboard with a recorder performance, though performance is a strong word for what they actually provide us (recorder shrieking is a better description). Thomas is twerking on a chair in the background, Potts is daggy dancing, the crowd are clapping along and there are now chants of “TOMATO” as Munn’s fate is determined and a tomato on a statue is produced. Munn genuinely hates tomatoes and the gagging as she takes a teeny bite makes that very clear. Meanwhile, DC is munching on one to the side of the stage.

It is announced that the show is over and everyone is back to their actual selves and no longer characters, much to everybody’s relief.

Early Midnight Circus has honestly been like I am high as hell watching my friends be idiots as a teenager, except this time I am sober watching my friends be idiots in an expertly planned chaos production.

Every person has played their character masterfully and Munn, Potts and Connolly managed to entertain no matter what was thrown at them. Munn had the hardest challenges and the least rewards but her expert improv skills really helped her to shine. Potts, who was so often a background character, also had his time to shine and it was great to see him more involved in this show and able to show off his comedic talents.

And Hogg, oops I mean Connolly, was their usual cute, up for anything, chaotic self. If you managed to catch the subtle changes such as Lam’s notebooks/pads up until the giant one, and DC’s ever-increasing state of solo sad boy activities, then it just heightened the experience and honed in the thought put into their performances.

Expect the unexpected was not warning enough for the insanity that was Early Midnight Circus and I am convinced that Aaron James Douglas has no other setting than unhinged!

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