There’s no way to review this show without first admitting that the title does half the job.
Burns and Cabana have an encyclopaedic knowledge of wrestling, supplemented by details of some of the wrestlers’ private lives away from the ring.
Well, the venue didn’t quite meet the 150 capacity but aside from that this show was exactly what it was billed to be. On the night, former WWE professional wrestler Colt Cabana (who wrestled under the name Scotty Goldman) and Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Brendon Burns are joined by comedian Josie Long, who received an enforced standing ovation for being the first woman to appear on the show.
There is no format or scheme to the show itself – a laptop, which seems to contain an endless archive of professional and not-so-professional wrestling clips, is connected to two screens on either side of the stage and clips are seemingly selected at random.
Two things separate this from just any lazy day at a friend’s house: firstly, Burns and Cabana have an encyclopaedic knowledge of wrestling, supplemented by details of some of the wrestlers’ private lives away from the ring. Secondly, and more importantly, the presenters are naturally witty (they are professional comedians I suppose) and it never feels rehearsed or forced. Long is a particularly fresh breath of air, possessing, as she is quite willing to admit, only a very small amount of knowledge on the subject of pro-wrestling.
Like all good wrestlers, Burns and Cabana have their signature “finishing move”, a clip drawn from somewhere within the murky depths of their archive. It is hilarious, shocking, astounding, and, when put on super-slow motion, hilarious again. Yet Burns, ever the thinking man’s idiot, offers a plausible pseudo-scientific explanation behind the motivation for the phenomenon. I couldn’t tell you what it is as I don’t possess the requisite verbal dexterity, but know that it is probably worth the price of the ticket.
There is a possibility that a show like this could fall flat but given the presenters incredulity that it even exists at all, you somehow sense it never will.
