Jason Henderson is unamused, no matter the cast's energy levels.
The performers on stage were full of energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, when it comes to the plus points of The Edinburgh Revue: Sketch Show (*), that really, really is it. Things started brightly enough, with a fairly sizeable audience cramming into Opium for the hour of promised comedy from ‘five silly students’, but by the forty-minute mark the crowd had diminished by 75%, and many of those hardy souls remaining found themselves at times sharing baffled glances with friend and stranger alike.
Alas, the sketches were just not funny and, to pound matters, the gags seemed heavily influenced by the misguided belief that writing some ‘naughty words’ or sexual references into the material would somehow get a few laughs. In addition, many of the sketches appeared to be unsuccessful attempts at recycling past and outdated comedy. And then there was the trotting out of the old, clichéd Nazi routine…
On numerous occasions, this truly was painful to watch. The performers stuck to their tasks admirably but unfortunately their tasks didn’t appear to involve being particularly funny. The odd line managed a few chuckles and some sketches received a dribble of polite applause but, tellingly, others were met with awkward silence. In essence, this was less like spending an hour at an Edinburgh Fringe comedy show and more like something you’d see from a group of school children given five minutes at the end of an assembly.
Edinburgh University is rightly famous worldwide for many things, but it is safe to say that its sense of humour will not be hitting the top of any rankings in the near future. If you’ve got an hour to spare at this year’s Fringe and are looking for some laughs this probably won’t be the show for you. There are plenty of things you could check out, many even in the vicinity of Opium, that boast far more comedic value. Mr Wood’s Fossils, for instance, is only a few hundred yards away.
Edinburgh Review: Sketch Show is at Opium at 1445.
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