With one table, two chairs, six comedians, and five audience members, Northern Droll is by all accounts a pretty small-scale production. Lizzie Milton, Tom Burgess, Mike Bentley, Alex Derrick, Laura Morley, and Sion Lory put on a solid collection of comedy sketches and it’s a credit to them that despite being half way through their run and performing to an undersized audience, the energy was high throughout.
Northern Droll is one of those rare and treasured examples of university comedy where the actors do not feel obliged to swear constantly and unnecessarily. The humour is approachable and centres mainly on beloved national stereotypes which, given the summer of patriotism we are all experiencing, seems appropriate.
The sketches are, for the most part, well written, although there are one or two that drag a little, detracting from the punch line. The characters are varied and imaginative, with particularly strong performances from Milton as the over-zealous party host, and Burgess as a man attempting to have a haircut refunded from a stationary store.
As Milton explains, they’re there to make people laugh, not to sell tickets, and whether that’s five people or fifty, Sheffield University Comedy Revue seem to be happy doing their thing however many people are there to appreciate it.