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drinks Monday 4 August 08
Edbert McGilbin Present
Verdict: Talented sketch comedy quartet
London - Canal Café - 21 March 05 – 19:30 (20:30)
Two creative duos merge in this comedy-sketch-writing quartet to form Edbert McGilbin. The audience love them. Sketches vary both in the assortment of cast and characters, and the style and content of performance – and every segment draws laughs.
Carry-On Scottish police officers make lewd innuendoes about packing fudge and enjoying pork in their mouths. A romantic ballad begins with every love-song cliché imaginable - and ends with a climactic chorus of ‘You gave me gon-orr-hoea, you cuuuunt... and if I ever see ya, I’m gonna rip your fucking head off’.
Each performer has an enjoyably distinctive delivery. Phil Gilbert seems completely at ease on stage and looks as though nothing short of a nuclear explosion would faze him. Jacob Edwards is variously deadpan, quirky, camp. Kerry Gilbert positively shudders with intensity. Kelly McGolpin has a natural, solid warmth and radiance. The result is a satisfying blend- each component performance complements the other.
If the show has any failings, it’s that the foursome’s strengths aren’t played to enough. The penultimate scene, a parody of a late-night arts-review programme in which each cast member plays a typically pretentious guest, shows an impressive satirical intelligence and observational flair that floors the poo-jokes, puns and innuendo - which have all been heard before.
Packing 14 assorted sketches into just over an hour, Edbert McGilbin delivers an original and entertaining show. Whilst it’s not groundbreaking, it buoys the high spirits and attention of tonight’s audience throughout – and makes a lot of people laugh. It’s undoubtedly just the beginning for this talented bunch.
Cast Credits: Written and performed by: (alpha order): Jacob Edwards. Kerry Gilbert. Phil Gilbert. Kerry McGolpin.
Company Credits: Technical Director Canal Café – Ross McGivern
END
(c) Jonathan McPherson
reviewed 21 March 05 / Canal Café
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
