This is part of a series of shorter reviews from Edinburgh Fringe, August 2024. Unfortunately I could not find the names online of the talented actors in this play – apologies!
Durham University’s comedy group present a series of different sketches in this fast-paced show. The Revue has previously given us stars such as Jeremy Vine, Nish Kumar and Ed Gamble, so it will be interesting to see if any of these talented actors have similar successful comedy careers.
The sketches were very much a mixed bag. One of the highlights saw the group spoof Scooby Doo (it really was amazing how well-suited the actors were to those roles). Other scenes included a suburban couple believing they had a Banksy on their garden wall, and a young boy excited to do some online streaming with his new microphone, only to be interrupted by his parents arguing.
There was audience participation in the form of a Houdini sketch, where “Houdini” got an audience member up on stage to help him with some tricks. The use of a blindfold, and some written instructions for the audience to make sure we were in on the joke, helped them to trick the poor man, who was also forced to pose for selfies (unbeknownst to him) which later ended up on the group’s Instagram page.
Recurring jokes always work well in sketch comedy, and the Durham Revue featured a recurring Brian Cox impersonation, who popped up to give us random scientific facts at inopportune moments.
I would say that, whilst there were funny moments, many of the sketches on offer here were hit and miss. However, the high energy and stellar performances from the cast meant that this was a very enjoyable hour of comedy.
Tom Morley, August 2024
“The Durham Revue: Mid-laugh Crisis” plays at Underbelly, Cowgate – Belly Dancer at 2:30pm until 25th August.
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