Bloom with a view (From Surrey Comet)

Bloom with a view

10:40am Friday 10th November 2006 in Comedy By Paul Diamond-Smith

"Getting told to f*** off by 400 people is the highest compliment for a comedian."

Adam Bloom, it seems, wants confrontation from his audiences. He is just as he appears on stage - hyperactive, bright, bullish yet warm. And it is this bullish part that he likes to be reciprocated.

"It's all very well them laughing away, but I respond to the pressure of having my back against the wall. I get a real buzz when someone challenges me and I have to prove myself. Johnny Vegas ransacks his relationship with the audience all the time and I really admire that."

It is refreshing to hear someone allow a heckle to turn into dialogue, not ignore it like a teacher faced with a flatulent pupil.

"If it's done respectfully, I don't have any contempt for hecklers, I just go with it. When I first did magic mushrooms I ran away from a rucksack. It turned into a serpent and ran after me. I wasn't thinking Oh, I'm on a trip, this is weird', I just went with it."

The technique of opening up the floor for questions traditionally sorts the men from the boys when it comes to stand-up. In this regard, and that Adam improvises part of his act on most nights, he does see himself as something of a risk-taker.

The same could be said of his choice of subject matter. His material on mosques is regularly greeted by the collective sucking of audience teeth in trepidation, but he is adamant that deliberately trying shock is not his aim.

"I have a part in my act about baby photos and other bland stuff. Yes, I talk about things that make people feel uncomfortable as well. But deliberately shocking people is pointless, it's the equivalent to saying bra' at the dinner table."

Adam also has a strong affection for the Banana Cabaret, where he is headlining this weekend: "I've played there hundreds of times and I love it. If you ask all the stand-up comics, they'll tell you it's in their top five in the country. It's a proper comedy club, it doesn't even need an MC.

"Visually, it's great for the comic. To get someone heckling behind you from up on the balcony is fantastic. It's a power trip to show you can hold a crowd with the back of your head to them."

So he loves the venue, he loves a heckle. What are you waiting for...?

Adam Bloom, Banana Cabaret, The Bedford, Bedford Hill, Balham, Friday and Saturday, November 10-11. Call 020 8673 8904, visit bananacabaret.co.uk.