Croydon's amateur dramatics club brings to the Fringe a perfectly nice but mediocre sketch show. It starts well, professional and well rehearsed, the small cast fluidly changing characters. The show produces some memorable caricatures, both surreal and satirical, and the sketches are imaginative.
Between each skit is a funny overhead train station announcement, bookending each scene and allowing the actors to change while keeping the audience entertained - a good idea. However, as the sketches are only a couple of minutes long, there are a lot of train announcements to squeeze into one hour. As most jokes revolve around the train service being delayed, these quickly become a repetitive annoyance.
Some of the sketches are quite funny and the sparsely populated audience keeps up a regular titter of laughter. Some of the puns are clever and there are some insightful moments about popular culture and people's general habits. However, these are patchy; there are also some groan-worthy puns and a few jokes are met by stony silence. Other sketches are so surreal it's difficult to know when to laugh.
The performers have excellent stage presence and are clearly talented, versatile actors. Occasionally they overplay and verge on hysterical, and the accents are a bit shaky.
Having said that, the final sketch is a comedy gem. TV detectives from Wallander, The Killing and Girl With a Dragon Tattoo team up with Midsomer Murders' Barnaby. The group should expand that into the entire show instead.
