Making Faces: 11 Things To Do Before You Die | Brighton Fringe review by Steve Bennett

Making Faces: 11 Things To Do Before You Die

Note: This review is from 2014

Brighton Fringe review by Steve Bennett

The Making Faces trio exude a super-duper niceness that might position them close to archetypally cheesy children’s TV presenters – an impression only reinforced by the family audience their afternoon sketch show attracts.

Yet the silly physicality of their best work overcomes both this illusion and their tendency, if left unchecked, towards actorly delivery. Their talents provide plenty of enjoyably daft moments – not always sophisticated, but usually original and funny.

Much of this comes from Dan Curtis, who brings an exuberance to his over-the-top performances. Lizzie Kevan, too, though specialising in being quietly, awkwardly amusing is not averse to grand, undignified gestures for the sake of a laugh. Ed Mayhew, is probably more measured in performance - even reciting poetry - but every group needs a relatively straight man to act against.

Preposterous scenes include Curtis as a cardboard-box-headed teenager on rollerblades, none of which is explained, just accepted as truth - which makes it all the funnier; Kevan shyly delivering a beauty products ad with none of the usual ‘because I’m worth it’ confidence; and an enjoyably twisted EastEnders spoof.

Their performance is usually better than the writing. But then matching up to their impressive delivery is a tall order. There’s an exuberant joy to their cartoonish exaggerations, and their skills extend to music and rap, which they are rather good at, and choreography, which they aren’t – deliberately, I think.

Ultimately, 11 Things To Do Before You Die is – yes – ‘a bit hit and miss’. The premise is that they had started with 101 ideas, but come down to a more manageable number to fit the hour... but on that premise doing five or six would have made for a much stronger, albeit shorter, show. And despite the episodic structure, there is still an randomness to the show which both gives it some of its fun, and is a slight undoing, making for an uneven tone.

Still there are plenty of laughs to be had in a show that might be family-friendly, but is only ever juvenile in the best sense of the word.

Review date: 6 May 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett

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