5 stars

*****

As I excused myself from the pub last night and explained to my assembled friends that I had to run away to review the Late Night Gimp Fight, I have to admit there were a certain number of eyebrows raised.  It’s a divisive title, one that will either repel or intrigue you.  Obviously, I fell into the latter camp.

This is a sketch show without boundaries.  Boundaries of taste, that is.  Or boundaries of what may be considered acceptable behaviour in polite society.  And do you know what, it’s all the better for it.   I had an inkling that I’d happened upon a good thing when the introductory tune turned out to be ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’.  How can you better a beginning by Buggles?  Well, these guys managed it by segueing into a gleefully wrong interpretation of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.  I know we’re all sick of the song, but here it was given a new lease of life.  From then on Lee, Matt, Dave, Paul and Richard pounded through their wonderfully wrong sketches, never simply aiming for shock value but providing genuine belly laughs along the way.

This whole show held together beautifully.  During the sketches you would have been hard pushed to see the punchlines coming, and when you did it was because it was because it was part of a running gag weaving itself through the set.  Transitions between scenes were kept slick through the excellent use of the AV equipment, in which popular adverts or music videos were given a gimpy twist.  The 5 performers used their limited space brilliantly and I don’t think there was a single second wasted.

Of course, now I have to go back and confess to my friends that I absolutely loved my time spent with these particular gimps.  They can raise their eyebrows all they want, I don’t care.  Deeply and darkly delightful.

Reviewed by Di

Venue – Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Beside

23.00 – 00.00