Review by Steve Bennett

This is dad rock, but the comedy version. Rory McGrath and Philip Pope, both in their mid-fifties, stand casually strumming guitars and laconically sing medium-energy bluesy numbers with a droll wit, rather than laugh-aloud punchlines.

They have the insouciant air of men with nothing to prove, which you can only get from working in the business for more than 30 years. They both wrote for Not The Nine O’Clock News, and appeared on-screen on the pioneering Channel 4 alternative sketch show Who Dares Wins in the Eighties.

McGrath is, of course, the more recognisable one, and gets to be the butt of the odd aside about being a drunken old lech, while Pope’s musical contribution to comedy is extensive but lesser-known – from Spitting Image’s Chicken Song to scoring The Fast Show, Outnumbered and Kevin & Perry Go Large. That he’s a strong composer is beyond debate, and the original tracks here are rich and catchy... although lyrics don’t always come up to scratch

. They’ve chosen easy topics: reality TV, the inanity of Twitter, and so on. When they need to namecheck celebrities to justify the c-word, they go straight for Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson, Route One all the way. But when they include Justin Bieber in the list, it feels like middle-aged men trying too hard to be hip. It’s just a name of a young person in music to them, it doesn’t mean anything.

Of course, they address their age – and that of much of the audience – too, with and a Beach-Boys-style celebration of their car, a nice reliable Peugeot 208, and some self-knowing banter between the songs. But they (by which I mean McGrath) also indulges in self-confessed ‘retro lazy racism’ about the Welsh being sheep-shaggers or some old ‘take my wife’ story which do not cover him in glory. Dad jokes indeed.

Edges are not being cut here, yet it’s amiable enough, mildly witty songs pleasing an audience seeking some reassuring, almost cosy, entertainment away from the ‘next big thing’ buzz of the rest of the Fringe. And as long as they stay away from the cheaper jokes, that a valid part of the festival, too.

Review date: 4 Aug 2013
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett