Oh dear. I really want to say something nice about this show, and this troupe in general, primarily because it takes so much energy and commitment to get a full show together and take it to Edinburgh, and secondarily because the Revue has such a venerable place in British comedy history. However, there were so few real laughs in this slow-fire comedy sketch show that I wondered whether this lot had ever been to a comedy club in their lives. I've thought of many excuses for them: they're very young, and probably rather busy studying; some of the ideas were good, and some of the execution which let these down could have been borne of first-night nerves; maybe they were too young to have seen The Fast Show, and thought they were being genuinely original; maybe this is just a lame year; the audience wasn't drunk. Sorry guys - I'm afraid that most of these just don't wash. Much of the time I felt like the whole thing could have been better if the cast just put more effort into the comedy acting, as too much of it seemed tired and unenthusiastic. When you've got a bare, unforgivingly-lit set, no costumes, no make-up and very few props, you need stage presence and charisma to give ideas the colour that makes them work. Even the moment when a naked man ran on to the stage to cry 'Please tell me this is a recurring dream' was over before we knew it was supposed to be funny. In fact, the whole show was over before I felt that it had warmed up, and we were out of there by 8.30pm.
I can only hope that I am terribly wrong about all this, as I dearly wish to be, and that some of the above excuses are valid. Perhaps the cast all had the flu on Tuesday, and will have recovered by the time the punters flock to see them for the remainder of their run. I wish for their sake that this is the case.
I can only hope that I am terribly wrong about all this, as I dearly wish to be, and that some of the above excuses are valid. Perhaps the cast all had the flu on Tuesday, and will have recovered by the time the punters flock to see them for the remainder of their run. I wish for their sake that this is the case.