Jack Whitehall UK Arena Tour

In terms of production values this may well be the most spectacular arena stand-up show ever.

- London Evening Standard

The Requirement

This live comedy broke new ground as the first in-the-round UK arena tour by a UK solo comedian, the format enabling Whitehall to engage on a far more intimate level with larger audiences than a convention end-on stage would have done.

Adlib were engaged to design and supply lighting and sound equipment as well as a team of technicians for the shows.

The Solution

For the sound system, Coda Audio was chosen as the “most suitable” option for two primary reasons – its light weight meant more boxes could be flown in the centre of the rooms, and the proprietary HF planar wave drivers ensured they could get clarity and detail into every corner of the room.Four Adlib AA1214 speakers driven by Labgruppen PLM 20Ks were positioned discreetly on the floor, around the stage , as fillers for the front rows of seating.

The tour’s lighting was designed by Adlib’s Pete Abraham based on an initial idea from Jack Whitehall’s management company which was based on a boxing match style appearance, complete with the video cube above the stage and stark lighting beaming down at a sharp angle.

20 x Martin MAC 301 LED wash moving lights and 12 x Clay Paky Sharpies were hung on two lighting trusses rigged either side of the octagon truss holding the screens.

On the 8 metre box truss / cable management hub in the middle were another 12 MAC 301s and 8 MAC 700 profiles.

A ground supported arch was also erected for Jack’s entrance – by Segway – into the auditorium, and this was rigged with 11 2-lite Moles and six Atomic strobes, with another three MAC 700 Washes on the floor each side.

Adlib also supplied four Robert Juliat Ivanhoe 2500W follow spots stationed in each corner of the arena on towers which were provided daily by the venue to Adlib’s spec.

Also part of the Adlib package was an Altair wireless comms system for the whole crew used by the follow-spot ops, stage management and techs from every department including pyros which were supplied by BPM.

The Result

When we all chatted about this over 6 months ago it seemed crazy to do live comedy ‘in the round’ but it worked better than anyone could have hoped for and audiences & journalists have raved about Jack’s show and the production.

The team behind Jack is incredible, as a comedian Jack is fearless and Adlib is very humble & proud to be involved in a quite evolutionary project.

It summed things up perfectly when Alex Hardy in The Times said, "if you are going to do comedy in arenas make it an event." Well on this occasion Jack Whitehall did.

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