Audrey Hobert Brings ‘Who’s the Clown?’ to NPR’s Tiny Desk

Audrey Hobert’s first Tiny Desk Concert arrived after a year of widening stages, but the NPR office format pulled her performance down to its essentials. She drew from her 2025 debut album Who’s the Clown?, opening with “Shooting Star” and moving through “Thirst Trap,” “Phoebe,” and “Sex and the City” before closing on “Sue Me.”

The set had a conversational tone. Introducing “Phoebe,” Hobert noted she had watched only part of Friends: “I’ve seen all but one and a half seasons. I saw what I needed to see, got what I needed, and I wrote the song.” Before “Sue Me,” she described it as a song that caught on. The performance showed why, with precise delivery and lyrics that don’t waste time.

Since releasing Who’s the Clown? in August 2025, Hobert has toured as a headliner, appeared on The Tonight Show and Triple J’s Like a Version, and played festival sets at Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. This fall, she returns to the US for her biggest headlining shows, including runs at Brooklyn Paramount, the Ryman Auditorium, the Riviera Theatre, and Fox Theater.