Gerardine Coyne and Maria Hodson begin The Aspidistras - Secret Breakfast Gig by serving coffee and croissants. They open with a song The Semantics of Aspidistras - a simple acrostic that begins slowly and gets increasingly manic. It's silly, funny and they sing well, but by the time they reach the end (it's over five minutes long) the pair have spelled out the name of their act at least a dozen times, and the humour is slightly stretched.

Having touched on botany, they move on to literature, and Gerardine Coyne steps up to perform a new interpretation of Hamlet [play by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)]. She paces up and down for thirty seconds, holding a tiny skull at arm's length, before looking up and shouting 'I'm mad, me!' The sketch is slightly weak and not particularly well introduced, and Maria Hodson does nothing to redeem it by pointing out that 'We don't really know whether Hamlet was mad or not, do we?' This is the first instance of a flaw that resurfaces throughout the show: the sketches are well-constructed and well-delivered, but instead of allowing them to flow into each other, The Aspidistras become their real-world selves again after each one. They frequently draw attention to each other's mistakes - or problems with their props - in a flat, nonchalant tone completely detached from the dynamism and wit of their set pieces. Their sketches naturally create a lot of momentum, but they don't capitalise on it, and the show suffers as a result.

There are high points: a plant-cultivating contest is an inspired piece, in which Maria Hodson plays an unbearably smug entrant who makes her own compost out of 'loose lapsang souchong and The Times travel supplement', and Gerardine Coyne her opponent, who raised her plant on Coke. It's clever and well-performed. Their send-up of TV talent shows is also excellent - they play 'Shelly?' and 'Kelly?' two Essex twins whose voices drift upwards at the end of every sentence. They perform their own song Liberated Lady in 'the Acapulco style' (a cappella).

The show closes with a song about werewolves, followed by another attempt at dry comedy that goes awry: Maria Hodson thanks and says, flatly, 'It's been fun for us'. She looks over at Gerardine Coyne who, after a lengthy pause, says 'Yes, yes it's been fun.' They sound bored and adolescent, and it's not funny. It's a disappointing end to a show which has a lot of potential.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Gerardine Coyne. Maria Hodson.

Company Credits: Writer - Gerardine Coyne & Maria Hodson. Director - uncredited. Lighting Designer - uncredited. Sound Designer - uncredited. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - uncredited. Company - The Aspidistras. Website - www.theaspidistras.com.

END

(c) Letitia Longworth 2010

reviewed Saturday 7 August 2010 / The Caves, Edinburgh UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com