COMEDY

Some shows are almost impossible to fairly review. This is one of them. I’ve seen this show in three successive years and every time it has been the same but totally different. The format doesn’t change, it starts with the host, Kate Smirthwaite, doing a warm up. She then introduces two team captains, who now seem to have settled down to being Jools Constant and David Mulholland who have a couple of minutes to tell jokes. They then are joined by their team members, on the day I saw it Tom Webb and Sunna Jarmen, who do likewise. It then turns into a panel game. Divided into three sections the panellists are asked questions about news of the last year, are asked to come up with a test of Britishness, and finally to come up with a new law they would like to introduce. There were some extremely witty and at times thought provoking comments.

However, unlike most comedy shows, this one positively thrives on audience heckles or comments, with them being invited to award or take away points or to give their own answers to the questions and on the day I saw it this just didn’t work as most of the audience just wanted to sit there quietly. A great pity, for with the right audience this is a brilliant show.