Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Strange things are often afoot in the Fringe’s ultra-late slots – Mark Dean Quinn chomping his way through far too many cheese slices, for instance. In comparison, this two-hander clown show, kicking off in a burrito joint at 1.45am, is relatively conventional as these things go, though undeniably silly.

First we meet Prosciutto (George Harris)  moving around the space, making perfunctory animal shapes and constantly saying:’ Wow’ - he’s not the only physical performer I’ve seen who repeats the phrase about their own skits, they must teach it at clown school somewhere.

In beret, moustache and leotard, he Riverdances around, despite the cellar’s worryingly low beam and performs a very literal interpretive dance to Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. He teases us to objectify him, then protests: ‘I’m a poet, not a piece of meat!’ even though he IS called Prosciutto.

He has a Rik Mayall-like combination of pretentiousness and bad-but-committed acting, albeit much less manic, as well as the expressive face all good clowns require.

He gets a couple of people up for a game of Twister, successfully working around the disruptively over-eager loose unit who volunteered – one of the perils of such a late kick-off. His mime of going on a date but finding the car won’t start is a more conventional premise, while the ‘half-time break’ is too hectic to be refreshing. 

Prosciutto’s partner in clown, Arthur Vinegar (Euan Fraser) is less disciplined, and the ride is even more fun for being wilder.

With the physical air of Matt Berry, his outfit is grubby pants and yellow-stained vest – then Dolly Parton’s 9-To-5 kicks in and he’s getting dressed for work. There’s a lot of ass wiggling involved, very in your face.

He’s got some set pieces, inviting a punter to help him milk a mime cow and plenty of wonderfully daft carrot-based props. But he allows for a lot of improvisation and often can’t quite keep his composure, making for an hilariously slapdash set.

Given that no one’s wanting intellectual comedy in a show that ends at almost 3am. Good Boys Good Time offers some semi-freewheeling, knockabout nonsense that fits the slot perfectly.

Review date: 27 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: PBH's Free Fringe @ Burrito ‘n’ Shake