Underbelly

August 2015

Someone had to be the last to be reviewed this Fringe, & I am happy to say that the age-old adage ‘save the best til last,’ still has kudos in the world, for the hour’s worth of irreverent sketcherie provided by these four bright ex-Oxfordians proved a perfect way to finish off mine, & the Mumble’s Fringe. They’re hot off the press these guys, gatecrashing the Camden & Brighton Fringes with their well funny show, K.I.S.S (Keep It Silly, Stupid), & in their own words, ‘fresh from storming London Sketchfest 2015,’ they launched an assault on the Edinburgh masses. By the time of this final show, word must have got out that they were well funny, like, as the room was almost full.

Laughing Stock are yin-yanged to perfection, two lads & two lasses who share a deft chemistry when relaying their comedy gems. A series of sketches are played out before us, which sometimes subtly interconnect, showing that these guys come from ‘the clever place’ down Oxford. They roll with the punch as well, for only a month before their debut performance at Edinburgh, one of the lads – Lewis Doherty – ruptured his achilles tendon while rehearsing. Soldiering on, the lad now does most of his show on a wheelchair, with the occasional standy-uppy bit, a heroic effort that managed to take nothing away from the comedy flow; & even added at times, especially when he played the Darren, an ale-swigging, cheeky-as-fu@k, northern monkey.

Lewis is joined on stage by Rhys Bevan, Phoebe Higson &  Arabella Gibbons, the latter of whom is a talented singer-songwriter in her own right. The fact that Phoebe isn’t quite as talented in this particular field (though her comic talent is supremely brilliant) provides a wonderful juxtaposition in one sketch, when Arabella hustles in on Phoebe at a busking session. Funny stuff indeed, but for me the highlights of the show were a brilliant Downton Abbey-esque scene, when Arabella brings her latest boyfriend back to meet the folks, & the sing-a-long-an-ending where the foursome meld into the rap-happy ‘Snack-Pack,’ to jolt us all into a jolly good time. An effortless FIVE STARS.

Reviewer : Damo Bullen