Two Episodes Of Mash: A Sketch Show By These Two People
Live Review

My dollop of MASH this festival came as a welcome and hearty break in the middle of a stark laugh diet of boyband sketch comedy. I can't say that the show offered me all the trimmings but I was taken by the lo-fi antics of this engaging duo.

A 60s/70s retro feel permeates the whole show, with Joe Wilkinson and Diane Morgan looking, dressing and sounding as if they are extras in an awkward scene of The History Man or a Play for Today from thirty years ago.

Their characters are predominantly shifty and the sketches are brisk, this means that uninspiring attempts like one I'd call Rapunzel's Entryphone, can be quickly forgotten if the next one is a hit. Luckily in this case it is, as Wilkinson has procured a sawn off shotgun for Morgan but let's just say that he gets the wrong end of the stick. Given it away? Don't worry there are plenty more in their mix of pops at popular culture (from The Generation Game to Can't Cook, Won't Cook) and more absurd doodles about magic carpets or appropriate preparations for the apocalypse.

Just over halfway through I am aware of a pre-teen boy in front of me looking at his dad after every gag to see if it is OK to laugh. It's symbolic of the frailty and uncertainty of the almost sepia-soaked world the duo have created, and perhaps a metaphor for the show's charm.

By some accounts this year is an improvement on last and I would certainly be curious to see them again as they seem close to that possible jumping off point, from MASH to smash.