Mike Wozniak: Clown Shoes

Article by Rebecca Gordon | 12 Aug 2009

Józef Wozniak is 60 years of age. Seemingly inconsequential, but in the hands of Portsmouthian comic Mike Wozniak, it appears logical that his sexagenarian Polish father’s birthday would be the basis for the incongruous mish-mash of fables, book excerpts and scientific fact that is Clown Shoes.

Exuding a kind of circus master authority, Wozniak’s booming vocal fills the stage, vigorously spewing a routine with the nasal expressiveness of David Attenbourgh. Not in the least a spontaneous ramble, the if.comedy nominee injects cerebral humour into a tightly wound set, delivered with characteristically unforced eloquence, slipping nonchalantly between dramatic representations of Erwin Schröedinger and obscure Polish fables, all the while interspersed with scenes from his own fledgling blockbuster following the thrill-seeking protagonist ‘Polgooth’.

Stand up comic, raconteur, moustachioed scientific roadshow participant – Wozniak, plucking inspiration from a wacky upbringing, revels in any role. So, it seems, do his mesmerised audience.