BEASTS have a way to go before they're predators of the Edinburgh sketch jungle, says Sarah Kendell.
New comedy trio BEASTS have the look of a soon-to-be successful sketch group. For one, they’re packing out a reasonable-sized theatre in the Pleasance in a mid-afternoon slot, which is no mean feat in itself. For another, they’ve mastered the kooky, defined personas with chemistry thing: gangly, afro-haired James McNicholas is the awkward outsider, wiry, bearded Owen Roberts the fearless leader and affable Irishman Ciaran Dowd – the clown.
Their enjoyably dorky opening dance routine sets the scene for a promising show to come, and the crowd are already having a ball. Unfortunately, the promising, shiny-new-group swagger they begin with just isn’t quite supported by the strength of their material. Sketches tend to linger on without much of a climax, meaning the healthy chorus of laughs they started with are waning a bit before the end of the hour.
While their style hints at an understated absurdism that could certainly be better developed with more circuit experience, their writing is frustratingly missing the mark by just a fraction, with most material either treading over somewhat hackneyed subjects, or being so left-field as to fly over the audience’s heads entirely.
A recurring section where the three discuss the progress of the show so far displays some promise, as does an enjoyably absurdist sketch about biscuits. Dowd, the star of that particular sketch, is in fact the stand-out of the three – he calls to mind a younger Chris O’Dowd from the IT Crowd, flitting from sunny Irish optimism to Bernard Black-style sardonic rage with comfortable ease.
BEASTS certainly have a way to go if they’re to grow into the formidable predators of the sketch comedy circuit that their name denotes, but they’re by no means to be discounted yet. Perhaps a year or two more to properly hone their material and they’ll be better equipped to take on the Edinburgh jungle.
Sarah Kendell
BEASTS are at the Pleasance Courtyard at 2:15pm until the 27th August.
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