Review by Julian Hall

I’m starting to wonder if Just The Big Room, part of Just The Tonic at the Caves, is a lucky omen for sketch groups. Last year I saw WitTank power through an energetic romp here and this year, The Ginge, The Geordie and The Geek cement their reputation with a solid, enjoyable showing.

The first thing that strikes you about Graeme Rooney, Paul Charlton and Kevin O’Loughlin is that they are all competent actors, inevitably a real boon in driving through even the thinnest of sketch premises.

On that score, the trio fare quite well in avoiding too many throwaway ideas, even though they adhere to the adage of ‘the more the merrier’ when it comes to the numbers of sketches delivered. However, the trio’s best material is front-ended, leaving the last third flagging by comparison.

Sure, it’s pretty formulaic; a sketch character recalled in ever more tricky situations (in this case, a police horse treated as a human police officer would be), a visual pun and plenty of stretched concepts (charity muggers as wildlife, for example) – but it is delivered with great skill and aplomb and doesn’t require false corpsing to get you on side.

Within the formula there are some lovely flourishes of the imagination, including having two men becoming increasingly competitive in throwing bread to ducks. Another routine, one that is literally fleet of foot, features the three at a dance audition taking everything the choreographer says to be the name of a new routine. Gleeful stuff.

With their standalone sketch style, The Ginge, The Geordie and The Geek are not aiming for the transferrable bonhomie of Klang or Pappy’s, or even, despite their branding, of Late Night Gimp Fight, so it’s hard to see their fortunes advance without the introduction of an over-arching concept. Doubtless, though, this show will bolster the individual fortunes of this talented bunch.

Review date: 4 Aug 2012
Reviewed by: Julian Hall
Reviewed at: Just The Tonic at The Caves