Show Rating:

Don’t be put off by the fact their name sounds like an accountancy firm, they could easily change that. It's this double act's sloppy, insipid humour that's the real problem.

A Sketch Show In PowerPoint is as tedious as the title suggests. Actors Steve Mould and Gemma Arrowsmith - each one part Chuckle Brother to three parts ‘groovy’ drama teacher - use PowerPoint slides to illustrate such comic gems as Mould's letter of application to Arrowsmith's advert for the part of Mould. ‘I am called Mould! I would be perfect for the part of Mould!’

They jape about on stage - Mould pretends to be the Incredible Hulk; Arrowsmith puts a tinfoil helmet on her head and says she has come from the future; they pull off quite a good sketch that mocks the pretensions of restaurant menus.

Then the pair take it upon themselves to deconstruct what they've just done with knowing smirks and irksome ‘look mum, no fourth wall’ commentary.

This tiresomeness is upped yet further when Arrowsmith - who believes herself to be the brains of the operation - discovers Mould is in fact using PowerPoint to control her. Everything she says and does has unbelievably (onmore than one level) been pre-scripted.

Of course it has - it's a show! But is it? What's real and what's not?

When a show is so misguidedly pleased with itself, a more pertinent question might be, who cares?.

Reviewed by: Nione Meakin