The boys and girl comprising The Leeds Tealights performers, and of course their behind-the-scenes team, have created a comedy sketch show that can be hailed as a storming success for a number of reasons: the sheer originality, the direct appeal to their target audiences, and, perhaps key to their achievement, the unabashed ability to laugh at themselves. The show really was a joy from start to finish; a friend with a history of hernia problems managed to re-injure himself after excessive laughing surely higher praise than any review can provide?To go into excessive detail would be to spoil the punch lines of the sketches though to some degree this may not pose a problem after all, as there seems to be a significant element of improvisation in the show. This is where the Tealights really come into their own: the comedy sketches are of course excellent, but the occasional forays into the unscripted allow us as an audience to feel privileged in the viewing of something unique and exclusive. The performers laughter (or writhing facial expressions as it was desperately concealed) at their own impromptu jokes was anything but a problem quite the opposite, it simply serves to show off their boundless energy and creative spirit with which the group are buzzing throughout. Simple but startlingly clever hark-backs to earlier jokes in the show again proved shrewd and hilarious; and there was not once a sense that an avenue of comedy had failed, as dead ends were swiftly alluded to and laughed off.This years addition of a female performer opened up new realms of comedy for the group although some viewers might perhaps wince a little at the repeating motif of woman-get-back-into-the-kitchen jokes. Sketch-wise, the writing was diverse and brimming with ingenuity, bounding from insensitive morticians to the NSPCC helpline (outrageous) to the daily life of the Thunderbirds. A handful of skits were perhaps a little hit-and-miss on the humour front, but certainly not for lack of inventiveness and enthusiasm. I came away chuckling and tending to my hernia-crippled friend; for plenty of laughs and an infection of energy, go and see this show.
