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Pros: Funny, fast-paced and slick.
Cons: Starting at 9.15PM, it’s a late show and normal audience etiquette does slip a bit with alcohol and tiredness. Funny right to the end and packed with an extraordinary amount of characters and scenes, this is a perfectly executed evening of comedy sketches.
Summary
Rating
Excellent
Boys and Girls is a fast-paced evening of comedy sketches examining male and female relationships. Alice Marshall and Tom Worsley take on an extraordinary array of characters, from Adam and Eve to Prince George and Princess Charlotte, each one just as funny as the next and, with super-slick transitions between each sketch, there is never a dull moment.
With boys and girls as the theme of the night it should come as no surprise that sexual jokes are prolific; however, with the performer’s witty and intelligent humour these jokes manage to stay sharp and (fairly) mature. Props are used throughout to give quick visual cues to the audience and these are used effectively. It is the visual/prop-based humour which looks and feels to be the most basic part of this show.
The duo address their own personal male/female relationship throughout, and as platonic best friends who also work together, it’s good that they leave no ambiguity for any gossips in the audience. However, this is somewhat unnecessary as their genuine friendship shines through in the performances.
The humour could have been a little more subversive in places as the material felt fairly safe throughout. In playing fast scenes for quick laughs there is perhaps too much reliance on stereotypes to get the jokes across, though that does not make them any less funny.
Boys and Girls is presented as part of the Camden Fringe, a London alternative to that thing going on in Edinburgh right now, and is showing at the Tristan Bates Theatre – a studio theatre space at The Actor’s Centre. The venue doesn’t have great sight lines, especially when sitting behind a taller person, so it’s worth getting in early and grabbing seats near the front. With a start time of 9.15PM and running for an hour, this is quite a late show. On this particular evening, this resulted in a couple of early walk-outs and too many pre-show drinks for a couple of others, whose loud comments throughout became quite distracting. Although, I’m happy to say that they seemed to enjoy the show as much as I did!
Alice Marshall and Tom Worsley are a talented pair who manage to pull off an hour of high energy, fast-paced comedy with barely any room to breath. Delightful to watch and entertaining right through to the last minute, Boys and Girls is a perfectly executed evening of hilarious sketches.
Devised and performed by: Alice Marshall and Tom Worsley
Booking Until: 15 August 2015
Box Office: 020 7240 6283
Booking Link: www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
