deeply silly and incredibly fun chaotic sketch comedy
The Mayor (Ciaran Chillingworth) and his Daughter (Kit Finnie) are on a mission to rebuild their community, by connecting through comedy. They’ve found a Russell Howard DVD boxset in the woods, and that’s key to destroying the demons that lurk in the village.
In the anarchic hour of sketches around this theme, we’re treated to ridiculously silly performances, with sketches packed full of material, and an impressive scale of effort from both performers. There’s a whole gamut of comedic elements all joining forces in a truly unique venture.
The Mayor and His Daughter have a fraught relationship, testing boundaries and rewarding with treats. We have an overhead projector graphing the peaks and troughs of the show, the rise and fall of Russell Howard, a mind-reading demon telling jokes, the trials of the post-man and local business man, a chatty milk-bottle and ‘then I got off the bus’. You’ll just have to trust me that somehow this all makes sense, as well as no sense.
There’s a fair degree of audience participation, but well judged and it’s predominately as a crowd – we have a personality test to determine the quality of the show we receive, and also another set of options later in the show to determine the fate of the village. This central narrative is absolutely key to keeping the whole show together, and the sheer unpredictability of what’s going to happen next is counterbalanced beautifully with satisfying call-backs.
So very silly but incredibly funny, and it’s all a bit mad and wonderful at the same time – I only wish I’d been able to see it earlier in the run, because this sort of show is a perfect example of genre-bending creativity needed at the Fringe. I really hope The Mayor and His Daughter are able to leave the village long enough to tour the show, they deserve to be seen by many.
“The Mayor and His Daughter: A Genuine Appreciation of Comedy”, run finished on 24 August, at Snugbar @ Assembly Roxy. Information is available at:
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-mayor-and-his-daughter-a-genuine-appreciation-of-comedy and they can also be found online @mahdcomedy