This comedy a cappella troupe is fast becoming one of the biggest sellers of this year’s festival. This is in no small part thanks to their popularity as recurring guest stars on the hit American sitcom, Scrubs. In fact most people will recognise group member Sam Lloyd as the shows loveable loser, Ted, and the group regularly refer to their television roots throughout their performance. Perhaps unfairly then big things are expected from this show but it becomes clear very quickly that their skills as writers certainly aren’t on the same level as the creators of the television show.
Still, putting that aside, it is an enjoyably daft show that contains amusing musical riffs on television theme tunes, ‘80s pop songs and oddly linked mashups. Linking it altogether is a rather weak plot about how the performers would like to impress an agent so they could perform in outer space. The four performers are a likeable bunch and they play up to the goofy quality one might expect of an a cappella troupe. The comedy isn’t all that sharp and they do tend to play it safe throughout the performance but the audience remains on their side and go along with their silly clowning antics. The musical moments are an equally mixed bag, whilst it sounds fantastic most of the time, some of the references may become a bit lost on a UK audience and anyone under the age of forty. The stand-out moment comes as the four return to the stage for a more modern pop-based number which contains more energy and comedy than most of the show that preceded it.
I should also point out that the show ran twenty minutes over, which might not be looked upon too kindly by those audience members with a tightly packed schedule.
