Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America – Soho Theatre

Kieran Hodgson, the avowed atheist bisexual vegetarian Brahms-enthusiast, wants to be a Voice of America. He even orchestrates a US presidential campaign style entrance to the theatre, complete with standing, chanting, and a great deal of handshaking. But he doesn’t quite let us forget that there is one voice hoarding all the oxygen when it comes to speaking of, and for, the United States, and he asks some vital questions about how to relate to the country, to its hope and promise, when trapped by the totemic power of that voice.

Hodgson is hilarious, with every joke pulling peals of laughter from the audience, combining clever writing and delightful impressions (minus He Who Must Not Be Named) and a surprisingly dense amount of British cultural reference with an extended riff on Hodgson’s work as The Sandwich Man from the DC superhero movie The Flash. Yet Hodgson isn’t just a comedian – he’s a powerful raconteur, and much of his performance shifts away from traditional go-for-the-joke standup for a storytelling that is brimming with pathos. He explores his relationship to the United States beginning from his earliest days, his experiences traveling to the country (including what his husband describes as an incredibly alienating experience, even for him) and his parents’ scepticism of it, his waning and waxing enthusiasms during the Bush and Obama presidencies, respectively. Hodgson is kind and funny, and while his devotion to the concept of America can appear incredulous at first glance, he ultimately revels in ambivalence, though admittedly the show might have allowed a bit more time for such an exploration.

But what is most compelling about the show is how it has so much hope, until it doesn’t.

I don’t want to spoil it, because it’s an amazing performance – you should go see it, and you should go to be surprised. It is perhaps the most important stand-up show I have seen in years. It is also the only stand-up comedy show where I have felt betrayed, and haunted, and so very disappointed in the audience. I’m still thinking about it, a particular moment that transforms the show from something thoughtful, feel good, and virtuosic, though not particularly special otherwise, into something singular. Kieran Hodgson is comforting, until he isn’t – and maybe we don’t need comfort right now. The question is, of course, do you join in with the chant?

Run time is 60 minutes with no interval.

Bookings run until June 28^th at the Soho Theatre (before transferring to the Edinburgh Fringe from July 30^th to August 24^th) and can be found here:

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/kieran-hodgson-voice-of-america

Reviewer: Zak Rosen

Reviewed: 17th June 2025

North West End UK Rating: