Photo credit: Chloe Monaghan
Jordan North and William Hanson chose Cardiff’s Utilita Arena as the first stop for the arena tour of their eight-year-old podcast Help I Sexted My Boss, and what an evening it turned out to be!
If you aren’t a faithful G&Diva and therefore not familiar with this podcast, then let me quickly explain that the title gives you most of what you need to know. This is a podcast where the cheeky (and slightly rougher around the edges) Northerner Jordan and his posh, sophisticated, and etiquette-obsessed friend William take on the listeners’ often racy and shocking problems and offer their advice. This, of course, is mixed with friendly banter between the two and is definitely a listen you will struggle not to giggle along to.
How on earth does that translate to an arena performance, I hear you ask? Well, I think that is what the self-proclaimed Creative Director William asked himself, and why there was a huge sprinkling of attractive male dancers, choreography, and questionable singing. Was all of that needed? No, not really, but of course, we had all the essential parts of the podcast, including jingles, questions, and the energetic Producer Ben. So why not add the extras?
The bonus DJ battle took us all back to our old keyboard demo buttons and our Hi-Fi novelty sound effects. A very welcome moment for the radio and audio fans who had attended just to catch a glimpse of former Radio One and now Capitol presenter Jordan.
Some moments felt like we were just down the pub, chanting, playing drinking games, and guessing whether pictures were of one part of the male anatomy or another. Then there were moments when we had big-screen VTs of their Mothers declaring the pride they each held for their sons and all that they had achieved.
Kylie is dead, according to Jordan North, but after that confusion clears, Miss Minogue has a big influence on parts of the show, with both men attempting iconic looks and dance routines from the idol’s career. These bits were so left field that it was impossible not to get swept along with the chaos, clapping and laughter.
There were a few stumbles regarding the Welsh audience, including the accidental mention of being in London rather than Cardiff. The funniest was North’s attempt to read the ending of a message from an audience member and mispronouncing Diolch as Di-ol-chez.
This whole show felt very much like panto for adults, with audience participation, silly games, funny costumes and dodgy dances. It kept us all laughing the whole way through, and everyone left with a big smile on their face. How they will ever top it in the future, I dread to think.
This tour consists of only a handful of dates in locations including Manchester, Glasgow, and Wembley. The final date is in Manchester on March 28th.
