Be warned: this is not a normal stand-up show. Most notably because Perth based comedian, Claire Hooper, doesn’t speak for the entire length of the one hour routine. Now before you start thinking, ‘Oh God, not mime, anything but mime!’ rest assured that Oh! is filled with her animated voice. She just never utters a word on stage. Confused? Let me explain.

This show is an autobiographical account of Hooper’s overreaction to throat surgery, during which this comedian and radio DJ was threatened with the prospect of losing her voice. It employs recorded gags from previous shows, video footage, music, dancing and yes, okay, quite a bit of mime to chronicle the events surrounding her surgery. It’s also a comedic experiment in the ways we can communicate without speaking.

Hooper’s performance in this show is confident and energetic. The limited amounts of ‘proper’ stand-up that we hear display a sharp and incisive wit. The show is cleverly structured and the multimedia aspects are well-timed. It manages to jump very quickly between diverse topics, delivered in a variety of forms, without appearing chaotic.

That being said, although I could appreciate that the show was definitely daring and different, it didn’t have me rolling in the aisles or wiping tears from my cheeks. Then again, I’m a bit of a traditionalist. So if you find regular stand-up comedy stilted, Claire Hooper’s Oh will suit you.