Camden Fringe – Tasty Combo: The A-Z of Sketch

TASTY COMBO IN THE A-Z OF SKETCH Swillow Bytes Upstairs at The Camden Head, music blaring from speakers, raised triangular stage squeezed into corner, red velvet curtain backdrop, two stools and a croissant. The audience are plenty, bustling, babbling and bursting somewhat at the seams – awaiting the arrival of 'Tasty Combo'. It’s Camden Festival Fringe time. Lights dim, spotlights on, 'Tasty Combo', comedy quintet, three male, two female, synchronised smart dress in black and lime green, fill one huge hour with twenty-six rapid short sketches to abet Henry’s incapacity to know his alphabet. It’s acutely clever, very funny, brilliantly written and improvised. Each sketch in turn promotes the next letter of the alphabet, though a little confusing to begin with, clarity sets in from the letter “S” onwards. Their raucous romp carries the audience on a journey of an inventor with fur balls, an Irish catholic priest and sins of envy, dating experience disorders, King Arthur and his Knights attempting to build their Round Table from an Ikea flat-pack… and much more besides. Favourites of the evening include a ukulele song rendering a love for one’s teacher in home schooling (naughty but exceptionally funny), an episode of a couple squashed into a train carriage, expressing facially and physically their desires or non-desires to vocalised pre-recorded thoughts, and most memorably the “Marmite” joke… The quick-witted, intelligently penned sketches expose each individual’s unique personality, skill for characterisation and comic timing to a “T”. Henry Locatelli, Charlie Mizon, Zara Radford, Pearce Sampson and Lucy Walker-Evans are certainly faces to watch for the future. Having met whilst at university in London it is clear to see they are inspired by admirable predecessors such as Peter Cooke, Dudley Moore, Monty Python and Dave Allen. With more time, maturity and experience their faces will soon join with the recognisable comic forces of the present. The setting proved a little cramped for them at times, as they stepped on and off the tiny stage for their multitude of scenes. However, their polished professionalism carried it off without fault. A slightly larger venue would have suited more and showed their work at its best. I wish them well in their comedic future. 'Tasty Combo' in 'The A-Z of Sketch' combines all the ingredients for an eclectic evening of fun and frolics. 20-22 AUGUST, 8PM The Camden Head, NW1 0LU