Metro Review (posted by Matt)

The Metro review is out today. Three stars which is good.

Metro 8/8/05
Performing in the Pleasance’s Hut space can be a graveyard for talent in much the same way as the notorious Court Two at Wimbledon.With audiences crammed into cramped seating in a nasty temporary structure, it requires vibrant, assured performances to lighten the fabricated gloom.

Big Day Out passes the test with flying colours; while some of their material is patchy, this trio of comics have created a sketch show that should win them plenty of admirers. By dint of being very tall and studiously officious, William Kenning should immediately be sworn in as this year’s Fringe player who most resembles John Cleese while Lewis Georgeson deadpans well and Matt Chorley bravely suffers through the indignities of low-budget comedy.

Whether wearing a swimming cap to impersonate Michael Stipe, a blonde wig and a dress as a female diner with a passing resemblance to Harpo Marx or simply being hit in the face with an open tub of butter, Chorley mugs likeably without overplaying.

Some of the sketches lack punchlines, and the climactic skit about a pirate radio play is too manic to hit home.But the best routines, such as barbershop renditions of the themes for Knight Rider, Dr Who and Grange Hill come over freshly and with strong comic timing.If they can polish up the sketches, Big Day Out will be offering a trip worth taking.

Eddie Harrison. Metro 8/8/05