Show Rating:

How did Jess Ransom and Sarah Dean come up with the name Girl and Dean for their sketch double-act? Well Ransom claims it is because she is a girl and Dean used to be a man. This becomes a running gag and grows tired fairly quickly.

Double acts often have a bully and a victim, and it can be very effective, but Girl and Dean’s bickering seems generic and stale. There is promise in their writing with some an amusing sketch about the Cranbourne Women's Guild staging a revolution to overthrow the British government, with hand knitted balaclavas and a rendezvous point for husbands to pick them up after they have slit the throats of the Bourgeoisie.

Sadly this little gem is followed by one of the worst cop outs I have seen in sketch comedy. A medical students diagnostic exam overseen by an eccentric professor ends with them diagnosing that there is no end to the sketch and prescribing an awkward silence and then just moving on. It had been a fairly pleasing sketch and for the want of a punchline was left hanging.

Again there is a shining moment with a wartime public service style announcement to aid Brits in spotting Nazis but unfortunately these characters make a return later with some information on rationing and it just doesn’t pack the same punch.

The youngsters Tiggy and Jocasta return from last year’s show with a play on race-relations but it is manoeuvred down a comedy cul-de-sac and again a decent sketch is left craving a punchline.

It is disappointing as Girl and Dean are likable characters with an obvious talent for performing, but the flow and quality of their writing lets them down. They have a charm and visible enthusiasm for what they do, so hopefully we will see them return with something stronger next year.

Reviewed by: Corry Shaw