There's no shortage of brash young sketch comedians trying to make their mark at the Fringe, but few avoid the pitfalls and cliches of the genre as successfully as Totally Tom. Their series of original and well-developed sketches feature an array of imaginative ideas and three-dimensional characters, which are portrayed with impressive comic timing and physicality. Both Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton are accomplished performers, but Stourton's characterisation is particularly strong; in every scene, most notably when he plays a melancholy exotic dancer, he is evidently working every muscle in his body and face to maximum comic effect.The Toms had a viral hit on Youtube with 'High Renaissance Man', an inspired pastiche of the self-delusions of a blinkered public school boy, and some of their material features similarly laughable toffish figures. But they never fall back on stock stereotypes, proving their impressive versatility with a rich cast of characters. They switch from overeager Club Med reps, to coked-up Sloane Rangers, to a pitch-perfect Colin Firth impression in a witty King's Speech parody. The impact of the dark twist at the end of a skit about a sham mind-reader proves how engaging their scenes can be, while a Shakespearean pastiche demonstrates the intelligence as well as humour of their writing.This is inventive and polished character comedy.
