Massive Dad (Liz Kingsman, Tessa Coates, and Stevie Martin) have a sense of humour like Japanese fusion cooking, with their combination of social detail and zaniness. Their sketches range from of-the-moment skits on contemporary etiquette to absurd 1870s cop shows. Following on from their success at the Fringe last year,
Massive Dad are perhaps at their most comfortable and observationally sharp playing posh young women.
The absurd seeps in. Food cravings interrupt even the most serious of people, when political strategists break into indulgent chocolate and coffee adverts in the middle of an intense planning meeting. A real knack for spotting the weird hidden details in everyday life is demonstrated when Martin plays the traumatised owner of an IKEA lampshade. How did it get into her flat? No one ever buys these inoffensive household items. A similar idea lies behind the job interview where no one can keep their mind off Kingsman’s unfashionable brooch. However this time the sketch goes on a little too long and the gag feels unnecessarily spun out.
Occasional direct audience address feels uncertain, although proves very necessary for setting up the storyboard sketch in which the trio attempt to enact the ambitious cartoons drawn for each moment of the scene.
Massive Dad are perhaps at their most comfortable and observationally sharp playing posh young women. A winning sketch involves posh girls introducing their new TV production company. After a ‘cheeky goog’ to research their show pitches, they come up with the hilariously inaccurate cop show. Another pleasingly high-concept, multi-layered sketch occurs in a trendy converted fire station restaurant with a policy for treating food envy.
In between sketches Kingsman, Coates, and Martin bounce around the stage in flashing black and blue hoodies that would turn any pre-teen green with envy. Their energy, attention-to-detail, and silly sense of humour ultimately make for a highly amusing hour of sketch comedy.
