Review by Steve Bennett

Male double act Best Boy have a handful of excellent ‘tentpole’ sketches – most notably an enjoyably anarchic finale – but they prop up some pretty flimsy material in between.

And, worryingly for their development as comedians, all the strongest bankers were also in last year’s show at this festival.

Charlie Mizon and Dan Smith are a rather old-fashioned sort of act. None of the naturalism of stand-up has rubbed off, and they perform in quite a theatrical manner. They bicker, as all double acts must, but their rivalry feels perfunctory and insincere – at least initially – manufactured because it seems to be the thing to be done, rather than from the heart.

The conceit is that Charlie is arrogant and domineering, convinced he is a comic titan being dragged down by Dan, whose ideas are always rejected. That faux arrogance means they can deploy the ironic detachment card when jokes are weak, suggesting that was always the intention, though, of course, it doesn’t make the punchlines any better.

On familiar ground, they have a sketch that revolves around Louis Lane not recognising Superman when he wears glasses, and there’s a sackful of cheesy puns – often despatched as quickies, but cheesy nonetheless.

One of the biggest laughs from the audience comes when Charlie, pretending to be a stand-up, delivers the age-old heckler slam: ‘I don’t come to where you work and knock the sailors’ dicks out of your mouth.' There’s a little more context to this, but not a lot..

The duo play with dark comedy, but it tends to be just as superficial, invoked to make the mood bleak so they can shatter it with a flippant comment. It works better the other way round, a silly skit about Ant and a ghost Dec swivelling to a desolate payoff.

Still, their Richard III scene, though starting weakly, culminates in that lively finale; while a magic trick is taken to similarly impressive excess. These are sold on a commitment to the gag, which is very notably absent elsewhere and leaves the pair too often stick in the ordinary.

Review date: 15 May 2016
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Brighton The Warren