Lost in the Oxford vac without a bit of revue-style student comedy? Salvation is only an hour away! Catch the train to Paddington this weekend and make the short hop along the Bakerloo line to this charming, Burton Taylor-esque venue 5 minutes' walk from Warwick Avenue Tube, and you won't be disappointed.

Despite the style, Donkey Magic aren't Oxford students, they're four old school and University friends who - when not sending prospective comedy scripts off to the Beeb - donkey about just for fun in their spare time. To start their performing life in the venue where The League of Gentlemen embarked upon their careers, therefore, bodes well for their comedy future.

The show consists of 11 bite-size sketches held together on the stage by compere Mr Barry Walsh (hot off the Butlins club circuit and hoping to revitalise his TV career). A pasty-faced amalgam of Alan Partridge, David Brent and all the bad holiday-camp hosts you could ever need, poor Barry can't help lapsing into irrelevant reminiscences and the odd inappropriate personal divulgence… and at the end of the day, doesn't know what the bollocks he's on about. Still, 'here's some more cutting-edge new comedy…'

If you've seen student revue in Oxford, Cambridge or London, chances are you will already have seen shows along very similar lines to this one. Ok, the timing is occasionally ropey, many gags fall flat whilst others are flashes of genius, etc, etc. What is also evident however is an impressive writing talent, and an ability on the part of the cast to handle complex and quickfire dialogue whilst holding their own with the physical comedy aspects required by many of the pieces. Whilst much of the material appears fairly derivative, that's nothing new either - a lot of comedy has been living off the post-modern homage, or piss-take, for at least the last decade. The penultimate sketch, 'Dr Gilhoony', is a great example. In the style of an Australian medical soap opera, it smacks most obviously of 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' whilst also reminding one of the kind of fast-talking demonstrated by Red Dwarf's Ace Rimmer (cf. 'Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast' and "Nurse! Pass me the badger and get me David Essex."). Generally throughout the evening there is also much owed to the Pythons ('That's nothing! I lived for 6 months in a hole in the Serengeti'), the Fast Show, Steve Coogan and George Doors - a veritable catalogue of comedy icons.

Pieces deserving special mention include the aforementioned "Dr Gilhoony", the speed-of-light pace of which makes it a great showcase for Ollie Simpson in particular (it's easily one of the funniest sketches of the show), as is "Sorry" - where only one word is spoken, but which ends in a violent sandwich fight; and "Psychoanalysis", in which Nick Hughes' Sigmund-Freud-cum-Groucho-Marx is an absolute delight. "The Supplement" offers a hilarious insight into the world of tabloid journalism; Ed Bradshaw has a good face for looking confused with, a là Lee Evans; and Bo Wilson has a couple of funny lines in her slightly unfortunate role as the token woman in a troupe of lads. Praise also goes to Rob Melotti and Nick Hughes for an inventive soundtrack which ranges from Schoenberg to Bobby V.

With revue, there is always the possibility that you might today be witnessing the tender budding of the flower of tomorrow's comedy genius. And if not, well, the 1649 Show is a very pleasant way to spend an evening, and at just over an hour in length, you've more than enough time to catch the last train back to Oxford afterwards.

Su Jordan, 14.04.04

Next shows: Sunday 18th April, 7pm; Monday 19th April, 9.30pm