Late Night Gimp Fight compile their best material from the last ten years to provide a crude and raucous evening of entertainment. After successful runs at both Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe, as well as Soho Theatre, Late Night Gimp Fight has become quite the cult show. Essentially the premise is: five dudely dudes do some horrible dancing to shite mainstream songs and for some bizarre reason, it really works.
A giggly evening of mischief and madness
The theme of the sketches is generally sex, sex and more sex. That’s what happens when five naughty boys are left to their own devices. These boys have become a big ol' bunch of dads, and it’s pretty wholesome to witness their maturity and growth over the years. Having said that...The ensemble enjoy some audience interaction and when I say that, I mean a poor man is preyed on by Spiderman with his ballsack out. It is hilarious and the rest of us are thankful we weren’t chosen. Another man is totally abused as the whole troupe sing in chorus 'we know you're a paedophile’ to the tune of One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful.
The dusty old blonde wigs used for the generic female characters are clearly ten years old and horrendously unkempt, which adds to the general welcomed messiness. Kudos has to be given to Paul Biggin for his tremendously well rehearsed beastiality rap. Another brilliant sketch that never disappoints is the contemporary dance spoof that is tragic and totally hits the nail on the head. I have a soft spot for Richard Campbell (he is actually a real life barrister?!) who never fails to incite bubbles of laughter with his highly expressive face.
The scrambling in the dark between scenes is brilliant, and the show as a whole does not pretend to be high brow in any way. We are treated to videos in-between sketches of famous film scenes that have been tampered with to include the gimps, such as the classic ‘here’s Johnny!’ scene from The Shining, but on the other side of the door we don't find a weeping Wendy, we have two very welcoming gimps. Their humour is ten years old...and parts of the show are dated, but the ensemble are aware of that fact. The show is sold as one final hurrah, so we can forgive the odd on-the-nose gag. Late Night Gimp Fight once again provides a giggly evening of mischief and madness.
