Tim Harding reviews the gig at Leicester Square Theatre

Is sketch comedy gathering momentum? Well, yes and no. To look at the choices of TV commissioners, you wouldn’t think it, but people really dig I Think You Should Leave, and the Sketch Off finals this year sold out the Leicester Square Theatre for the first time in their long history. 

While previous years’ shows have been marred by drunken punters, this seemed like a packed out audience of appreciative connoisseurs, whipped to an airy fervour by Chortle Award-nominated MC Sam Nicoresti, resplendent in nightshade. ‘There are no rules tonight! Apart from the normal cultural/societal ones,’ they proclaimed – a line that prepared us for a competition without a significant dud note, but where the atmosphere was a little risk-averse.

Dirty Laundry (Maddie London, Robbie Boyd and Emily Symington) were the first up, a trio in patterned sweater vests showcasing their range with some good accent work, a song about the pretentiousness of ‘men who cook’ and a sharp parody of a fan-made YouTube documentary investigating whether or not Taylor Swift is wearing a hat. 

Although some of their comic mannerisms seemed borrowed from elsewhere, and one of their members wasn’t given much to do, the material was strong. Given another year they could be back with a vengeance.

Continuing the laundry theme, Ozzy Algar achieved the most peculiar character of the night playing a sepulchral old proprietress of a laundrette on the Isle of Wight, divining the maladies of her clients from the contents of their washing baskets. A good, weird idea, but one that moved in circles a little too often after a strong introduction, and with a couple of visual gags that were too small for the size of the room.

Also in character was Max Devine, harnessing the vast comic potential of the pool noodle as a French swimming instructor who can’t swim. His set felt more heavily written than Algar’s, but largely consisted of swimming puns.

Visually, avec pool noodle, swimming cap and one-piece suit, he worked a treat, but the low-key character needed a little more development. The idea that we as the audience were all floating around in an overly crowded swimming pool, while very good, didn’t come across as clearly as it might have done.

American Jake Detenber could easily have made the runners-up list with his two character pieces: a horrendously overbearing man at a world food buffet and a high-pitched schoolboy trying to worm his way out of being beaten up. 

His talent for mimicry is clearly strong, and he showed a great understanding of the juxtaposition of dialogue and physical movement during a wonderful sequence where his schoolboy tries to rip apart an apple with his bare hands. The only puzzling note was his TikTokky habit of describing the concept of the sketch at the end (‘Thank you – that was Worst Guy at a Buffet’). It’s okay, mate, we literally just watched you do it.

Finlay (Stroud) and Joe (Peden) came armed with a really cracking concept for a sketch, taking Paddington Bear into the multiverse, but there were some kinks in the delivery. One of the performers was saddled with a lot of exposition, most of which felt unnecessary, while the other got to drop in and out with all the best lines. It’ll be a very tasty morsel once the fat gets pared away.

Moving into the second half, Molly Windust and Dan Bishop took second runner-up as Mudfish. Their premise of a military academy and a hippie primary school being forced to share a sports day proved immensely fruitful, especially in its ornate detailing. 

With some sharp writing and a bit of polish, they managed to incorporate the drama, romance and tension that some other acts glossed over, while simultaneously leaving more room for spontaneity between gags. 

There’s more than a few undigested chunks of The Delightful Sausage in their stew at the minute, which is a great influence to have but will hopefully be cooked down over time.

Ted Milligan and James Trickey aka Burger And A Pint came in with some fast-paced sketches, including one little palate-cleanser which can’t have lasted more than 10 seconds,  but was so quick and funny that it played a significant role in the duo taking first place in the competition. 

Other highlights included Trickey invading the stage as Rich Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly, and The Diary Of A CEO interviewing Fagin from Oliver. It was old fashioned sketching in many ways, but also showed the power of speed, surety, and an elegant metafictional framework.

Katie McLeod’s character creation Karismaa didn’t get much traction among the judges but was one of the only acts of the evening to bring that intriguing note of chaos, which you need to keep you upright in your seat. 

A brassy tarot reader in a sequinned playsuit, Karismaa doesn’t have a huge amount of pre-prepared material, or at least disguises it well, leaning into her interactions with the audience. In a sea of polite and streamlined sketch efficiency, she was a welcome tonic.

Eva Wallis and Hudson Hughes made a more muted impression. From experience with these kind of endeavours I recognise the temptation of the scattergun approach, hoping that you’ll hit everyone in the audience at least once, but it’s usually the more focused acts who make the bigger impression. 

Wallis and Hughes had a handful of nice moments – Wallis’s Smallest Mouse Competition was fun – but didn’t alight on any one idea or tone for long enough to crack the surface.

Finally, Jonathan Oldfield went in the other direction, spending his allotted time exclusively as a beret-wearing crooner suffering from severe acid reflux. 

It’s a cocktail of bad puns and snatches of song that could easily be reminiscent of Neil Hamburger or other parodic entertainers, but which Oldfield made his own with a charismatic performance and clever pacing – his command of comedic rhythm ensured that you were never more than a few seconds away from something funny. He was a smash with a crowd and landed on the podium in first runner-up position.

So, an entertaining and well-produced evening, but it was difficult not to notice the lack of diversity. It was a very white show, and only one of the performers presented as anything other than middle-class (although it can sometimes be hard to tell with character acts). 

I don’t think it necessarily speaks to an issue with the way the competition is run, but it certainly indicates that sketch has a long way to go to shake its reputation as the preserve of middle-class and Oxbridge comedians. 

Acts like The Delightful Sausage go some distance towards challenging the cultural tropes and expectations created by Footlights, but there’s a clear underlying issue that sketch, as a less financially viable form of comedy, is still largely reserved for performers with some kind of income security. Even talented acts like the finalists here risk becoming moribund en masse if supporters of sketch don’t take real steps to seek out new voices.

Review date: 9 Apr 2024
Reviewed by: Tim Harding
Reviewed at: Leicester Square Theatre