In 2015, I attended Dan & Phil’s The Amazing Tour Is Not On Fire show in this venue, being a superfan of the YouTuber duo. Seven years later, Daniel Howell – to name him formally – and I are back for the former’s comedy show, We’re All Doomed!. Intrigued as to how someone associated with a double act for so long would fare solo, I left pleasantly surprised. The set is filled with references that appeased old fans, but not so many that one-off audience members would feel alienated.
In a recent interview, Daniel told me We’re All Doomed! would be full of dread about the current state of the world with a side of humour at its expense, and this was upheld. It opens with Daniel uncharacteristically singing of how “everything is fine”; visuals of a happy sun and rainbow lighting accompany him. Midway through, his inner monologue brings him back to reality: he has depression, and the world is on its last legs. These two themes became the central focus of the show. Why are we all doomed? Daniel floats the climate crisis, social media and capitalism as possible answers.
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The amount of engagement with the audience proved a hit: many of the show’s segments encourage this, and make each performance unique. Early on, we discuss the validity of certain conspiracy theories before making collective conspiracy theory madlibs (including Phil Lester sacrificing a giraffe in the basement of Primark). The stage set is used impeccably, notably a fast-paced section where lighting flashes to represent a panic attack. The final moment of the show’s first half sees the screen turn to pixels and orange cubes fall from the theatre’s rafters.
Daniel Howell introduces the second half by walking onstage with a foldup chair and outlaying his rules for the end of the world (“eat your neighbours before they eat you”), then taking on the mantle of judge. We the jury have to decide whether to send controversial figures into the flames: Elon Musk, Jared Leto, JK Rowling, Peppa Pig and the Comparethemarket meerkat. This pre-empted one of the best live performances I’ve seen for a long time, the audience eased into difficult topics so Daniel could add depth without a jarring change of mood.
Siting on the stage set’s steps, he opens up about being bullied in school for being gay (at a time when he’d not realised this himself, much less come out) and no friends standing up for him. The futility of showing compassion for global tragedies via social media posts is weighed against the value of a few kind words from someone to keep him going. As someone who was bullied throughout secondary school, this part hit incredibly hard for me: complex feelings, skilfully articulated.
Looking into the future instead of focusing on the present, he says, held him back mentally, until he came to terms with just how depressed he was. In an attempt to make himself feel better, he had gone back and watched some of his oldest videos and showed them to us on the screen – a nostalgia trip for this audience member, too. One from 2013, Existential Crisis, proclaims: “Embrace the void and have the courage to exist”. For those suffering from depression, dealing with trauma, or merely having a bad day, this expression often goes ignored – easier to sit at rock bottom than to do something about it. A montage of Daniel and his viewers’ moments of ultimate happiness, gives way to those orange cubes: Daniel is sitting in the burning rubble of his own show.
I knew that We’re All Doomed! was going to touch on mental health, but I have never seen a comedy show that’s discussed it so candidly, and with no sugarcoating. Depression is something I’ve dealt with for a number of years; hearing these words was comforting, if scary, and it’s a great testament to Daniel’s ability to talk about things many are afraid to. If some moments of the show’s first half could have been done better, the second show was exquisite. “Embrace the void and have the courage to exist” is a quote I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Daniel Howell, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Mon 19 Sept
words RHIANNON FARR
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