A wonderfully silly show that will have you giggling all the way to the Tube.Rating
Good
The crazier the world gets, the more we need light hearted relief to distract us. And that’s just what Brazen Hodgepodge bring to the Drayton Arms Theatre, located above the friendly Drayton Arms Pub (who do a pretty delicious posh ham egg and chips). The show is a whirlwind of silly sketches ranging from easy targets like Trump to the surprising appearance of the iPod nano.
It’s always a challenge to review a sketch show. Two hours are packed with a range of skits, from the short and punchy that could almost be missed if you sneezed at the same time, to the long, winding jokes that deliver a delicious punchline after a slow build. Some of the sketches leave a slight titter, and the cast move on without a backwards glance. Others have the room snorting and guffawing, I’m left giggling into the next sketch as one particularly marvellous punchline tickles me. For a sketch show, it is a little long, particularly on the uncomfortable seats of this theatre. Perhaps a few of the weaker items could be lost in order to deliver relentless giggles.
Sam Gibbons steers the ship with charm and charisma aplenty: when things go wrong he’s the one to knowingly bring the audience along. At one point, Sebastian Senior’s fake moustache keeps peeling off his face, first the left side and then the right, slowly falling with comedic timing. It’s clearly not intentional but Sam and Sebastian handle it with such humour, it becomes a highlight. At another point Martha Cranston gets a crown tangled in her hair, preventing her from doing a dance routine with Sam, and once again they both handle it with true professionalism. It may not be intentional, but ‘the sketch show that goes wrong’ is quite amusing.
Apart from the seemingly unintentional blips, most of the jokes in the show are wonderfully constructed and delivered. Highlights include Sam delivering a horse racing style commentary, where all the racers appear to be politicians. He takes cheap jabs at them all, but we lap it up gleefully. In another scene Dan Thorn is particularly amusing as Keir Starmer, the wig is hilarious and his mannerisms bring our leader alive with charming satire.
Whilst many of the jokes poke fun at politicians and famous figures, with up to the minute relevance (Andrew springs to mind), there are also some fantastic sketches purely from the imaginations of this wonderfully silly group. A seemingly innocuous scene in a cinema takes a strange, baffling and hilarious turn, which leaves me with tears streaming down my face as I struggle to contain my mirth.
When quick costume and prop changes are made behind an increasingly frantically moving curtain at the back of the stage, audio sketches are played to the audience. At first they appear to be pre-recorded, but the programme notes reveal that the cast are improvising into a backstage mike. A highlight includes Sebastian Senior seeming to hype himself up to go on stage. It’s a nice touch to keep up the pace of the show whilst the cast are offstage, and Hannah Clancy’s tech is flawless.
If you’re after a night of giggles then look no further. Brazen Hodgepodge delivers laughs galore in the spirit of all the best sketch shows, and the genius is in the simplicity. It’s not a perfect show, but it sure is funny.
Written by Sam Gibbons, Sebastian Senior, Dan Thorn, John Upton, Emily Duncanson, Xander Smith, Eden Tredwell
Director: Sam Gibbons
Dance choreography: Martha Cranston
Props & costume: Emily Duncanson
Brazen Hodgepodge plays at the Drayton Arms Theatre until Saturday 28 February.
