Camden Fringe comedy review

It’s a true story ripe for the comedy treatment – even if it is so ridiculous little embellishment is needed.

While on a gap year in the Colorado ski resort of Vail in 2005, two Australians, aged 19 and 20, decided to rob a bank on a whim. They made so many bungles – including wearing the name tags from the store where they worked during their heist - that they were identified in minutes and subsequently became known as the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ bandits.

In a fast-paced blast of comic theatre, Pleading Stupidity tells the story from several angles. Concurrent strands cover the raid and their equally inept attempt at escape, their trial where their lawyer tried to use their incompetence as a defence, and the longer-term consequences of their crime.

Not all of this is successful: the courtroom segments, especially, sacrifice storytelling and drama - and the interesting legal gambit that gives the show its title -  in the scramble to crash between scenes. But the core story is strong enough on its own terms for it not to matter.

Likewise, the performances are a little slapdash - shonky accents, thin characterisation and sometimes stagey delivery - but the spirited quartet who cover all the roles (Barney Newman,  James Akka, Ellie Cooper and Gemma Daubeney) make a virtue of this, at least to some extent.

There’s a dash of fourth-wall breaking, the character changes are telegraphed and no one’s taking anything too seriously. But pace and energy can go a long way compensate, and their fast scene changes are certainly finely choreographed by director and writer Caleb Barron. There are also just about enough decent gags to ensure the production doesn’t run high spirits alone.

Just as the limitations of this approach start to become too apparent to ignore, the focus shifts to a book one of the robbers wrote about the fateful day. It seems slightly odd at first, but is a gateway to flip the perspective on the story and so provide a more thoughtful payoff than the farcical build-up could ever deliver.

• Pleading Stupidity is back at the Hen and Chickens in Islington at 9pm tonight and tomorrow as part of the Camden Fringe.

Review date: 10 Aug 2021
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett