BEASTS review

Kids' TV fans, prepare to meet some childhood heroes in this slick sketch trio’s new show. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sooty, Where's Wally; they all feature. Just don't expect them to be as cheerful and upbeat as you remember…

BEASTS – made up of Owen Roberts, James McNicholas and Ciaran Dowd – have put a lot of effort in their new hour. Characters neatly reemerge, the soundtrack is carefully picked, and each scene is deftly directed. The trio are all terrific performers, too, each with well-defined personas and roles within the group.

But it’s the sketches themselves where BEASTS fall down. Most scenes, while solid, have predictable punchlines and tend to overstay their welcome. In fact, it’s the snappy one-liner skits – a silly prosthetic limb gag, or a sketch about an unfortunately named one-eyed man – that get the biggest laughs, rather than the longer scenes which tend to cover well-trodden comedy ground.

BEASTS are still a fairly new breed – this is only their second Edinburgh. Give them a few years to evolve and no doubt they’ll bring back a show that has more bite.

See BEASTS at the Edinburgh Fringe