This ensemble sketch show promises in its promotional material to be as funny as the 'first Neolithic wedgie': a good indication of the level of comic maturity this young troupe have to offer. While occasionally sketches hit the right balance of gloriously goofy and carefully constructed, often they rely too heavily on tired tropes of teenage boy humour, such as silly accents and camping it up to play gay.Several sketches showcased some interesting comic ideas, such as the inventive monologue of a doomed but belligerently racist arctic explorer, its colonial satire proving to be genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. However, other skits failed to bring concepts to comedic fruition, often trailing off into banality or convoluted narrative. The 'bag for life' sketch, for example, saw the humour of a supermarket's obsessive policy on the use of recyclable bags descending into stupidity, with a dopey dance featuring a man dressed in bags ultimately thwarting any potential wit arising from the situation. The performers almost made up for these shortcomings by exhibiting boundless energy and enthusiasm, and they were certainly adored by their audience. However, the room was packed out with the adolescent actors' close-knit family and friends, as I came to realise waiting for the show to begin when I noticed them leaning over each other in order to exchange friendly words, waves and winks. Being trapped within this overzealous, nurturing audience was similar to watching a particularly lacklustre episode of Friends; you know the overbearing laugh track will remain faithful in spite of the poor scriptwriting. Give this lot a couple of years to harness their potential and hone in their sketch-writing skills, and they will no doubt be producing material capable of giving the average Fringe punter a good time as well as camcorder-wielding parents.
