Review by Steve Bennett

The Pin – aka Cambridge Footlights alumni Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen – are super-smart and super-inventive, and are proudly confident of the fact. This, their third Fringe offering (and their second as a duo, they used to be three), is built on the intriguing conceit that the show is being re-written as they go along, testing new ideas.

It opens with the dialogue Ashenden speaks being written on screen behind him, just putting the finishing touches to the ‘welcome-to-the-show’ bit in real tim, They return to this script device frequently, getting jokes out of the way other jokes go down, as they discuss whether they will make the final draft or not.

Thus the typical man-in-a-shop sketch is played out twice, both with internal dialogue and without, or their Ant & Dec sketch is performed in English and then in French, with ‘suitable’ replacements for the famous duo. The idea reaches its peak in a scene that undoubtedly benefits from the technical errors they encounter, so they go in the script. Probably best not to think how many meta- levels that works on.

Not all of the self-referential cleverness quite works out, especially the interaction with a previously filmed version of themselves that goes on far too long only to conclude with contrived payoff. This is one scene that definitely needs an edit, but the film makes that more of a challenge.

There are also a couple of scenes predicated on audience interaction that don’t really fit with the concept: the Crankball one is a hit, a sort of sporting equivalent to Mornington Crescent, while the recreation of a suspenseful thriller is a lot more disposable.

Yet other things are a delight. They have an acute ear for dialogue capturing emphatic or slightly odd turns of expression wonderfully. There’s something beautiful about the way a winning argument is celebrated with a triumphant: ‘Egg on your face, pal. Egg on your face.’ You can tell so much from the character just from that short, witty phrase.

It’s all very skilfully done by any technical measure, but a slight detachment caused by the writing working more on an intellectual level than an emotional – plus those few dud sketches might suggest the script still needs a little tinkering. But there’s no denying these are a talented pair.

Review date: 17 Aug 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard