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Take A Whiff Of ...Turpentine
Talk Of The Fest With Paul Provenza
Talking Heads
Talking Pants! With Ian Billings
Tanyalee Davis: Little Do They Know
Tara Flynn: Not Now
Tartan Ribbon Comedy Benefit 2007
Taylor Negron & Lili Haydn: Satellites
TBC
Tea And Cake
Tease With A Twist
Ten x Ten
Terry Milligan: Bringing In The Sheep
Terry Saunders: Missed Connections
The Christian, The Jew, The Muslim and The Geordie
The Comedian
The French in Wormholes and Arseholes
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Middle East
The Honky and The Wog
The Orifice
The Plot Thickens
There's A Donkey In My Van
Third Of The Way Done
This Sketch Show Belongs To Lionel Richie
This Sketch Show Belongs to Lionel Richie: Dial-a-Sketch
This Sketch Show Belongs To Lionel Richie: Pampered Private View
This Sketch Show Belongs To Lionel Richie: Up Arthur's Seat
Three Comedians For The Price Of None
Tim FitzHigham: The Man Who Discovered the Kama Sutra
Tim Key: The Slut in the Hut
Tiny Tim's Men Of Steel
Toby Mitchell: A British Guide To World Peace
Tom Allen ... And Other Short Stories
Tom Basden Won't Say Anything
Tom Stade: Setlist
Tommy And The Weeks
Tommy Mack: Lost In Music
Tommy Sheridan Chat Show
Tony Cowards: Festival of Football
Tony Law: Revenge Of The Dog Of Time
Tony Lee: XXX, Aggressive Comedy Hypnosis
Tony Littler: Middle Aged Punk
Tony Winn: An Audience with Tony Winn Singing in the Bath
Tony Woods From America?
Toulson & Harvey [2007]
Trachtenburg Slide Show Players: The Complicated Life
Triple Threat Live
Tripod
Trippplicate: Time Trippers
Truant TV
Trumptonshire Tales
Tweedy's Lost Property
Twenty-Four Hour Lentil People
Two Birds - One Ticket
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2007
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Take A Whiff Of ...Turpentine
Shamelessly unsatirical, not-remotely-dark sketch comedy. Take a host of famous characters from history and legend, trap them in another dimension, then blend with a great deal of silliness. Comedy where you don't have to think.
Original Review:
Much of comedy double act Turpentine’s debut fringe show coaxes a wry smile rather than raising a belly laugh. John Canfield and Richard Hutchinson promise ‘shamelessly unsatirical, not remotely dark sketch comedy,’ and the result, on the whole, is unremarkable. Many of the ideas are pretty basic, gags often heard in some form or other on the comedy circuit including an irate travel agent customer mixing up Iceland, the shop with the cheap lollies, with the country famous for Bjork and its geysers. Plus there’s an Ang Lee gag very close to the one Stewart Lee is better known for. There’s plenty here you can see coming and a running gag about a superhero policeman, though based on a nice premise, loses momentum rather than gaining it. Nevertheless there are also skits that hold great promise, such as Van Gogh co-presenting a kid’s TV art show and employing inappropriately verbose language to critique his own work, and a sketch in which the Swiss realise the Swiss Army knife isn’t the weapon it could be is subtly played. The pair’s performances are mixed, Canfield displays ability but Hutchinson appears unsure and slightly hesitant in his role. There’s a hint of a frisson and infighting between the players, a device unfortunately used a great amount this festival. Overall it seems it’s a little too early to take our whiff of Turpentine; the duo would be better tightening up their material and coming back later. Reviewed by: Marissa Burgess |
Really enjoyed this show. Well worth a look and ones to keep an eye on Steph Bateon, August 2007 |