BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEW: The Late Show: The Warren

The Late Show

Studio 2

The Warren

Kicking off at The Warren at 11.45pm this is a slightly soiled laid back bear pit of a show with a cuddly chubby grubby host Joe Foster, who did as little as he possibly could to keep the atmosphere up and running but then with ten acts on the bill there wasn’t much space for material even if he’d had any. It was refreshing to see so many women on the bill and the booker needs a pat on the back for ensuring such a decent balance, the line-up was different to advertised ( no Madame Senorita alas…) but after a few pints who cares, bring ’em on!

Zach and Viggo were frantic , charming and pointless and although they were energetic, literally bouncing around the stage the lack of traction in their material ultimately left me with a shrug I guess the longer they have to build that up into something, the better it would get, Australian duo The Siblings did a daft and (seemingly predictable) pastiche of ‘most haunted’ TV show and I almost turned off but their beguiling and slightly creepy daftness pulled it right back into strong slow burning clowning and uncomfortable humour, fellow Auzzie – Brody Snook was seriously understated, all ruthless crafted jokes and safely polished delivery, I was very impressed by this short set from this assured performer and her cleverly crafted material left everyone laughing and ever so slightly on edge, a fringe gem! Woolly: the Morose Merino did as odd an act as his name suggests, Tracey Tracey wandered on and off clowning with bathos & depth which had little of either- perhaps not the best space for such a involved piece of work, Alice Marshall started the night with a long but wonderfully bizarre physical reworking of a Attenborough Booby Bird nature routine, nothing new, but completely committed and funny, the audience loved it and Phil Jerrod finished with some well-polished local material.

The Late Show profiles a selection of acts from the fringe, some more polished than others and we had a range of quality from the performances, the charm of these night is partly the slight look of worn-out desperation on the hosts face as the night grinds on and the chop and change of pace as the acts swiftly wind on. Certainly worth a look in and a great place to wind up at the end of a festival night out, it’s engaging, fun and you get plenty of value in a gently rowdy nights entertainment.