Brighton Fringe review by Steve Bennett

This physical comedy two-hander certainly has an unusual premise – revolving around Brian, a novice white blood cell living in someone’s intestines, and his interactions with Karl, a parasitic worm, who he’s supposed to destroy but cannot bring himself to.

As the intruder, Matteo Carpi looks the manic, creepy part with wild Einsteinean hair, scheming eyes and unknowable accent. But as his would-be assassin, Niall Fallon, adopts the grating air of the most patronising Theatre In Education performer with a jolly ‘learning is fun’ tone which makes the piece seem juvenile.

Their traits are fairly one-dimensional: Brian naive and cowardly, Karl conniving to save his skin as they bicker and chat to not much end. There are one or two bits of amusing old-school clownery, most notably when they try to get into the same protective suit, but it doesn’t amount to much.

You could call this ‘The Chuckle Brothers does Waiting For Godot’ but even that would raise expectations – when in fact this parasitic worm is something you’ll want to pass. 

Review date: 14 May 2019
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett