This is a sketch show occupying a very special niche in the imagination of the Fringe. Let’s be clear, on one level it is an utter shambles; the set collapses half way through, performers shout to each other from off the stage and they even apologise to the audience for not having rehearsed enough to make the show suitably slick. The show is under-rehearsed and sometimes rather rambling.
On another level though, many of the sketches from this veteran band of comedians are side splittingly funny. The balloon dance, which is the best part of the show, is utterly brilliant, managing to bring tears of laughter to the eyes of the appreciative audience. The extended sketch detailing the group’s ideas about staging the Olympic opening ceremony is similarly silly and subverts certain sections of Danny Boyle’s work magnificently. There are several other sketches which work less well but the members of the show are win over their audience masterfully and thus these weaker moments still managed to raise titters.
This is a very specific type of comedy contains some extreme smut and wicked humour but if dodgy tech and irreverent performers don’t put you off, the Greatest Show on Legs could be for you.
