Review by Steve Bennett

Live! Girls! is one of the burgeoning number of sketch shows that has great characters, strong ideas and polished performances, but which have trouble translating it all into solid laughs.

These talented actresses excel at creating a mood and capturing the essence of frustrated characters trapped in dull lives, but often style triumphs over content.

It's telling that their funniest creation - the 74-year-old dwarf and mystic Enid Thompson - is also the simplest. She's a salacious weirdo, embarrassing hapless audience members with frightening lust and direct line of questioning. Her ravings are hilarious, if perhaps limited, as she is a simple caricature with little depth.

On the other hand, the more fleshed-out characters are more interesting, but less amusing.

Bill and Sheila, the middle-aged married couple simmering with domestic hatred and wracked by crushed dreams, aim for the sort of downbeat, atmospheric comedy of The Royle Family. Brilliantly drawn, they do raise more than the odd smile, though their sketches seem padded.

These are the best of the bunch, though, and other characters in the girls' canon feel like they ought to be hitting the funny bone, but fail to do so.

Some of the sketches, too, are identical to last year, which raises questions about how much potential there really is in the characters and whether the show can rise above its current 'moderately amusing' status.

Review date: 1 Jan 2002
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett