Sketch troupe Quattro Formaggio find the right mix for an indulgent comedy feast. Hailey Settineri checks out a great monthly comedy night in Tufnell Park.
I like my comedy like I like my pizza: cheap, cheesy, and overloaded with a variety of flavours. With eight acts ranging from musical to sketch and character comedy, sketch troupe Quattro Formaggio have certainly packed tonight’s menu well.
Our MC for the evening is the delightful and charming Spencer Jones. He splits his time between sharing embarrassing tales from his own life and joshing audience members. A young Belgian piano teacher receives much of the brunt (“How do you say ‘boobies’ in Flemish?”), however he quickly gets revenge, temporarily convincing Jones that the French word for ‘piano’ is ‘guitar’.
The first act is musical duo Bob and Jim, who deliver a classic set of double-hander comedy and a handful of ukulele songs. Some of the drier puns fail to draw many laughs (“My wife left me for a guy called Alistair.” “Are you going to pay alimony?” “No, just the wife and kids”) but they both play the straight guy so well that the audience is eventually won over.
Female sketch trio Vinegar Knickers fail to impress, which is surprising, as each member is clearly a talented performer. Their voices and mannerisms are impeccable and they milk awkward pauses like old pros, but most of their sketches feel overwritten. I’d like to see more of their simpler work, as exemplified in their one solid skit set in an all-boys school.
Four-piece sketch troupe Don’t Trust The Salmon are the only act of the night to break things up with pre-recorded audio gags. (I’ll never again use the self-checkout at Sainsbury’s without imagining a cow suddenly appearing with a loud moo. "Unexpected item in the baggage area.”) It works particularly well at the Hideaway, as the floor-level stage and lack of prep space can make scene changes distracting.
Bad Bread appear to be the least prepared act of the night (I spotted the trio writing notes on their hands before the show), but they still put on a cracking set. Their strongest sketch is a well-rehearsed piece about global terrorism set in a schoolyard (“Miss! North Korea has anthrax in his pocket!”), but I’m particularly entertained by another sketch where Peep Show’s David Mitchell and Robert Webb audition for a ‘Mac vs PC’ commercial.
After the break I realise comedy legend and Free Fringe organiser Peter Buckley Hill has snuck into the front row. After some prodding by Jones he reveals that Quattro Formaggio are being considered for this year’s Free Fringe, and he’s here to see their work. The house troupe doesn’t disappoint, executing a number of sex-themed sketches. It’s refreshing to see a gender-balanced sketch team – smutty jokes are all the more enjoyable when you’re not distracted by the token female or man in drag.
Isy Suttie makes an appearance as Jill Peters, a bored middle-class housewife (“I just made a tapestry of myself making a tapestry and thought: go out there and do something!”) who is here to teach us how to use creativity to get what we want. Although the character is fairly new, Suttie has the flustered mannerisms down pat, regularly interrupting herself with: “I have to – yes, yes I will say...”
Duo Thomas Hardie are the final sketch act of the evening, delivering a handful of short but punchy pieces. The pair make good use of the limited space, running in an out of the audience between sketches rather than merely stepping to the side of the room. Their enthusiasm is infectious and I can’t help but enjoy their Janet Potato (Yorkshire’s answer to Carmen Miranda) song and dance routine.
The final act of the evening is not comedy, but an appeal for help. The wonderfully twisted Holly Burn, clad in floaties and carrying a bag of stuffed toys, explains that she lost a friend’s child while shopping. With superbly detached hopelessness, she passes photos around the audience. “This is a picture of him with, well, a friend I guess. Do kids have friends? Is that what they do?”
It’s a quiet, but by no means lacklustre end to the night. As I walk home I can’t help but wonder how the meagre £3 entry is split between the 20+ talented performers, but like a drunk with a £1 pizza from Iceland, I’m willing to overlook the logistics. I’ve had my fill of cheesy comedy, and that’s all that matters.
Comedy Fondue is held on the second Tuesday of each month at The Hideaway in Tufnell Park.
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Image credit: Chris Odonovan
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