So we all know the premise for a rom com: girl meets boy, some sort of complication, girl and boy fall in love. And we all know that although rom coms are entertaining and perhaps inspiring at times, real life is rarely like the movies and that relationships don’t always just spring out of a chance encounter. Unfortunately, it appears that Mace and Burton didn’t know this and so embarked on a project to find love like in the films.
Their aim is to meet ‘the One’ by emulating scenes from their favourite romantic comedies including: making houses out of waffles like Drew Barrymore does in 50 First Dates or wearing a big hat to a wedding like Andie McDowell does in Four Weddings and a Funeral. As they reel off film after film, and promptly failure after failure as each romantic scenario flops in real life, there is potential for comedic moments. But, like their attempts to talk to guys, these are unfortunately ignored. Instead, the opening part of the show is basically spent with a quick film synopsis of every rom com film Mace and Burton could think of.
Once it finally becomes clear to the giggly pair that just maybe this idea isn’t quite going to come through for them, they simply resort to talking to men in bars. One last-ditch attempt at re-enacting the films results in a bizarre auditioning for each stand-ups’ perfect enemy to try out the old ‘we-don’t-like-each-other-but-oh-now-we’re-in-love’ scenario. This is actually one of the highlights of the sketch, with video footage of each person reporting back after the dates. However, there is much more of a sense of the whole thing being more alike to a Channel 4 documentary as opposed to a comedy sketch. The video footage of couples talking about how they first met, When Harry Met Sally reference, there are some naturally funny moments but these are unfortunately neither Mace’s or Burton’s doing.
Both hosts are likeable, and to begin with you find yourself really trying to find the laughs in something which is merely just entertaining. After the first half hour, the constant whirlwind of romantic scenario after another promptly followed by ‘…and it didn’t work’ does begin to grate. There is a genuine rapport between Mace and Burton which appeals to the audience but sometimes during the ad lib moments you do kind of feel like you’ve stumbled into a private conversation between two friends. Moaning about love and failed relationships is something we all do with our close friends, but when it is an hour long bombardment from complete strangers it is slightly exhausting. The pair has been performing the show for over a year now and you can tell. The dialogue is heavily scripted, over-learnt and missing that natural spontaneity which makes for the best comedy. All in all, a potentially entertaining concept that just misses the mark.
