These two Jesus loving friends are here from across the pond on a mission, to raise money to help a little boy with terminal cancer. Except, this being the Edinburgh Fringe, thats just a premise for some very funny songs sending up religion and happy-clappy, feel-good religiosity.
Jeremiah Smallchild and Gideon Lamb play it completely straight, singing nicely and getting the audience toe-tapping to their silly lyrics (the pants come down when the ring goes on, you dont have to be exclusive with the man from Galilee) and the use of a slide show detailing the progress of the young boy Lavert adds to the truth of the occasion.
There are also some sketches, as our duo hope to instruct todays young people (the youth) how to deal with moral dilemmas. Generally this part of the show is less clever and not as wacky as the songs. But theres a happy ending, and the audience had a great time the day I was there.
Except for three folk who walked out pretty early. Unbelievably, I assume, they thought they were coming to see the genuine article, that is two real evangelists singing us on our way to Heaven. Normally I would have rejoiced at seeing this, but this was a mother and her two young kids. You could argue that its mums fault for being so naïve as to expect this to be a genuinely devout presentation, but it begs the question whether the show should carry a not suitable for children message. Shows containing nudity, sex, or strong language often carry this warning in Edinburgh, so why not a warning that the material may be offensive to some. Its not so much the piss-taking that might have caused the trio to flee, but the comedic way the young boys cancer is dealt with. It may be difficult for a parent to explain to a kid why the audience roars with laughter at some of this.
But hey, its the Fringe, maybe you have to be pretty thick to bring your kids to a show like this. But not to worry, Jesus even loves the stupid people.
