Show Rating:

With this year’s seemingly endless spate of do-gooding charity concerts, God’s Pottery has not only caught the zeitgeist but bottled it.

The premise of their second Fringe show – that two Christians attempt to solve the world’s problems through song and dance – is hilariously, cringingly reminiscent of Live8, Live Earth etc.

Using deliberately amateur Powerpoint presentations and guitars, the over-earnest pair list the nine main issues facing the world and call on Team Jesus to fix them. So overpopulation, climate change and ‘Africa’ are reduced to a 10-second clip, then ‘tackled’ with a searingly well-observed song, before being crossed off the list. They make Bob Geldof look woefully inefficient.

It is, of course ,easy to mock Christianity, but they do it with more skill and originality than most and have clearly worked hard to make it more than a flimsy pastiche. There is an obvious element of exaggeration but they are horribly convincing, skilfully employing the heightened reality technique pioneered by shows such as The Office. Both men get their characters spot-on and the banter between songs is pitch perfect.

A scene about the dangers of rap music is particularly funny, not least for the pure, comic incongruity of seeing two men in Jesus sandals and bad T-shirts taking off the Beastie Boys.

The formulaic presentation can become repetitive. This appears to be a deliberate decision to remain true to the characters being portrayed, but more visual variety would be welcome.

Still, this is a minor glitch in an otherwise polished, well-written and very clever show.

Reviewed byNione Meakin