Joe Barnes and Henry Perryment deliver solid, expressive performances in their comedy sketch show. The duo work well together, moving expertly from one sketch to another in one very slick hour. Their enthusiasm is infectious: sometimes a particularly wild facial expression is enough to get the audience giggling.
Tight and well-constructed; you are guaranteed to have a laugh.
The jumping-off point for most of the sketches seems to be cinematic cheese. This works well; Goodbear’s characters are instantly recognisable and therefore draw us in quickly and easily. However, sometimes the dramatic build-up goes on for a bit too long. This causes the pace to drop in between the laughs, rather than building on the humour from the joke before.
There is a surprisingly large amount of death in this piece – particularly of women. Although most of it was funny, by the time we got to the sketch describing the drowning of one of the character’s wives, the female death count had begun to make me feel more than a little uncomfortable.
Although the set is bare, an effective sense of place is created through sound. Each sketch has a unique atmosphere and we are instantly transported to a new location. This is impressive, given the size and sparsity of the stage. The soundtrack more than makes up for the lack of playing space.
This isn’t the most hysterically funny sketch show I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe, but it is tight and well-constructed. You are guaranteed to have a laugh at this endearing twosome, but you won’t be in stitches for the full hour.
