Built around the concept of the show not being a show. Which, of course, it is, but there are so many random loose ends applied and so much of the humour extends from audience input, that they actually do have a point. It isn’t a show. Or is it?
Replete with sight gags, lightning-fast puns and comic timing to die for, songs that the audience seem to conjure from nowhere, a science lesson that came this close to actually solving the meaning of life, delightfully strange props from parasols to the Ashes (probably not the real one, but who knows), and a mysterious black cloth, it all translates as a game show of absurdity that would pass for an unseen hour-long sketch from The Goon Show or Monty Python.
My goodness, there’s even a competition featuring a prize on offer that literally no one would want to win, and, luckily, no one did. There were so many ridiculous highlights, one of the most delightful of which was the introduction of their extremely special guest, who can only be described as extraordinary… words fail.
A mark of their ability to really hit that funny bone was a device used many years ago by Rowan Atkinson, where the audience found themselves in hysterics at the sight of an empty stage. Now, that really takes trust in your audience and in your own ability to take them to wherever you want them to go.
These two dapper, extremely proper English gentlemen, whose major tripping hazard is their abundant politeness with each other, are award-winning, hilarious, imaginative, quirky, and full of unexpected surprises.
They really are an ideal of the spirit of Fringe.
Honestly, don’t miss them. You’ll kick yourself if you do. Either that, or they will.