None of the material in Scott Adams and Anthea Neagle's show is original enough to recommend it above the large number of other free back-room shows. They classed this showing as a tech run, however, - “we really don't know what's going to happen”, says Neagle - so perhaps the show will mutate over time.
Neagle is the more charming of the pair, her recollection of suffering from eczema as a child skin-crawlingly disgusting, and her envy of other, more fashionable conditions coming across as enjoyably petty. However, her material on Gary Barlow and other Take That alumni is much like the singers themselves: pleasing, but essentially middle of the road. Similarly, domestic tales of a pyromaniac dad obsessed with throwing items into the fire was fun enough, but felt similar to a story from some other stand-up.
While Neagle was smooth and personable, the more abrasive Adams was less endearing. His talk of having sex with pregnant women and laddish leeriness was perhaps not suited to the three p.m. crowd and would have sounded better with a baying midnight audience, nor was there any real coherence or linking threads to his jokes. It is hard to imagine this is a stand-out amongst the free comedy scene.
