Toulson & Harvey [2007]

Note: This review is from 2007

Review by Steve Bennett

The show begins with two Spanish brothers, Esteban and Raoul fighting over the same woman, Maria, as played by a bemused a middle-aged man in the front row.

After this, Toulson and Harvey depart from conventional sketch form to instead tell the ridiculous tale of how they met and came to work together.

This is a loose narrative which gives plenty of room for their silly ideas, for instance, Stephen Harvey’s parents meeting in the Boer War. If you can set aside obvious practical issues with this – and many of the other – set-ups, the show is good fun.

They have some very funny premises, the song asking us to ‘spare a thought for the ashtray making man’ who is now struggling to support his family, post-smoking ban, or the ‘knock knock’ joke training sessions in true Rocky style.

But despite this, and the entertaining execution, what this show lacks is belly laughs and big punchlines.

Luke Toulson’s continual efforts to finish the show and move on to his ‘next job’ make the show feel stilted, like this was a 20-minute idea stretched to fill the allotted 50. It is a shame that these two talented performers were let down by the structure of their show. But it still offers an entertaining giggle in the late afternoon.

Reviewed by: Rosie Carnahan

Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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