The current season of sketch shows by west London's ever-expanding ensemble closed last night. Two years ago, this loose affiliation looked extremely promising. This end-of-term report is not so enthusiastic. They seem to have been treading an awful lot of water.
There were some marvellous skits, but not enough. John Hopkins and Richard Glover invoked the wordplaying spirit of Ronnie Barker as hard-bitten NYPD cops investigating Peter Piper picking a peck of pickled pepper.
Simon Farnaby was marvellous as a sulky horse with sink plunger hooves and Tom Meeten was simply bizarre as a malevolent scamp known as The Baron.
Meeten's Baron, however, has not really developed since he first emerged, while Hopkins and Glover's tongue-twisting highlight also featured in the duo's own Edinburgh show. Other turns, particularly the female roles, were woefully underwritten. At one point, a ladder was witlessly lugged across the stage. I've had builders who have done funnier things with their equipment.
Too many gags tried to extract laughs from repetition or by being gratuitously absurd. Compere Tony Law's stoner interludes offered refreshing respite, even if he appears to have based his stage persona on Seinfeld's Kramer. This team is undoubtedly talented, but their inconsistency was shocking. Could and should do better.
