It’s usually a good sign when a sketch group can make you smile before you even enter the venue. The simple fact that there are actually three members in a group called Rory & Tim is in itself quite amusing, and their introduction continues to promise good things. As they get the show underway they present themselves as a very affable trio, and their first sketch is really terrific. At first glance it seems to be just another Mastermind sketch, but a few more seconds in and it’s clear the premise is actually rather clever. It’s full of great, silly lines, too.
Taking all of this into account, at this point it’s shaping up to be a very entertaining show indeed! Unfortunately the sketch that follows isn’t quite up to the same standard, and the one after that is less interesting still. This pattern continues to the end of the show – there’s always the hope that they’ll return to the same high they started off on, but they never quite do.
There are some brilliant moments thrown in here and there and their standard of acting remains strong throughout. But it seems they’ve put their best sketch first and filled the remaining 45 minutes with second rate material.
Some other scenes show potential – the interview with two boxers, one of whom speaks only in metaphors, the other entirely literally, is a good idea and about half of it is funny, but it’s just too long. The show starts to drag after a while and the start seems a distant, glowing memory.
Rory & Tim would do well to sit back and figure out exactly what works so well in their opening sketch and channel that into more of their writing. These three are very talented writers and actors but they seem to have got a bit lazy in the middle of creating Good for Nothing. The show gets its name, they explain, because it’s a good show and it costs nothing to see. At the moment they’ve hit the nail on the head – it really isn’t anything more than ‘good’. Perhaps that’s what they were going for all along: Fantastic for Nothing doesn’t make any sense.
