This is Your Trial

An interactive, improvised courtroom drama, This is Your Trial puts the audience under scrutiny, pulling people onto the stage as the accused, charged with ridiculous crimes. It's a comedy roast with a twist, the charges drawn up by Thom Tuck with a little help from the audience. Putting an audience member on trial in front of their friends is in many ways a tried and tested classic of comedy – the alternative equivalent of picking on the front row. The sense of danger at being the next one to be charged united the audience, and nervous energy provided big laughs throughout. Unfortunately this technique can go one of two ways, sometimes leaving the audience member feeling victimized rather than involved. To his absolute credit, when this did occur, guest "lawyer for the defense" Trevor Lock managed to step in and smooth things over with grace and style to keep the room onside.

The show seems a great choice for a late night audience focused laugh but ultimately fails to provide anything of substance

Many of the jokes here are simplistic and occasionally base, comments on people's dress sense and off-colour innuendo are glossed over with a light-hearted silliness, but remain unoriginal in content. That said, Jessica Fostekew should be singled out for raising the bar by providing clever wordplay and considered jokes in her role of lawyer. A different guest “lawyer” every night, Joel Dommett stormed the stage, a powerful presence and overwhelming confidence winning over the crowd despite a feeling that improvisation wasn’t necessarily his strong point.

An interesting premise, presented by five incredibly skilled performers, the show seems a great choice for a late night audience focused laugh, but ultimately fails to provide anything of substance, and it’s easy to see how the show could stray into playground bullying.