In the wonderful location of the top deck of a stationary Edinburgh bus, two comedians try to find their feet on the comedy circuit. Joe Bains and Diane Fitton present a show choc a bloc with corny one-liners, slightly forced audience participation and in-law jokes that are past their sell-by date.
Joe kicked off the show with some interaction with the audience. The top deck of the bus was full of people and by the time he had asked every single audience member where they were from and who they were with, he was certainly running out of funny responses. The pair took turns on the stage; Joe chose to focus on quips about his Indian Heritage, inviting us all to take part in an ‘Indianness Test’ as opposed to the ‘Britishness Test’ required of immigrants. Diane, on the other hand, discussed single life and requested that the audience help her with her online dating profile. The humour was quite forced, with one line from Diane being her response to a fisherman who kissed her on the cheek as ‘what have you been herring that cod make you think I’m that kind of sole’.
The comedians are enjoying themselves on the stage and the effort is definitely there. It’s always great to see people who love what they do but they were ultimately let down by their poor choice of jokes and stories. The performance culminated in a Whose Line is it Anyway? style of improvisation. Unfortunately, good quality improvisation is generally hard to find and the skill was not there. The show is free and performed in a very original venue - you’ll even get the chance to try out a Bollywood dancing master class. You will, however, have to suffer through a few painfully cheesy lines before you get there.
