‘Well Done You’ calls itself a character sketch show, but Lucy Trodd and Ruth Bratt are in character even when not doing sketches. This is a nice touch - it ensures that the chat in between is often as funny as the sketches themselves. There’s a running joke, for example, that Ruth comes from the comedy circuit and Lucy, the serious circuit. The gaps in Lucy’s understanding of how to do comedy are very amusing, as are the jokes about ‘getting into character.’ Teasing and affectionate, Trodd and Bratt are an appealing duo.
The sketches themselves are good, too. Particular hits included one about a couple of hilariously dim wannabe-lads at a stag do, a sketch entirely revolving around a fart joke and one set aboard ship with some excellent prop gags. They’re never realistic, but several of the skits are clearly observational; after one involving two stupidly deliberative Americans, Ruth comments, ‘I used to live in America - I know all these people.’ However, my favourite sketch was one of most surreal. It consisted simply of two madly unkempt airhostesses, shaking and laughing madly. The audience was laughing too.
Though the humour is often silly, it’s silly in a controlled way: Trodd and Bratt remind me a little of clever schoolgirls. They’re also the first people I’ve seen who use the customary request for money as an opportunity for jokes. This is a sensible move. Theirs is the best - and most middle class - plea for bucket-money at any free fringe event I’ve seen. Even if some of the sketches are a bit clichéd, Well Done You is a well-done show. It’s worth watching.