Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

It’s been five years since Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini were last at the Fringe, and absolutely nothing has changed…

Well, Emily became a mum, Anna had at least one breakdown after coming out of a toxic long-term relationship, and both were hit hard by the pandemic – but both insist they are absolutely fine with it all.

It’s probably not too much of a spoiler to reveal that they were actually not OK from all this. This turmoil – and specifically the levels of support they did or did not offer each other through such trying times – gives this impressive sketch show a solid emotional backbone. These major life events clearly put their once-close relationship under considerable strain, which they explore through this multilayered hour.

They deliver robust sketch ideas, such as accidentally dropping into insincere ‘voiceover mode’ or mocking the grating fake pretentiousness of using ‘yourself and ‘myself’, so often heard in customer service when a plain ‘you’ and ‘me’ would suffice. And we’re introduced to such winning characters as super-optimistic schoolboy pranksters Jurgen and Gunther and the passive-aggressive Auntie Pam, whining that she’s the victim of cancel culture. 

They pack in the gags, too, often in witty back-and-forth –‘remember what I said before the show?’ always elicits a witty rejoinder – plus a smattering of puns, both verbal and visual, that are cheerily silly. However, a volley of awful egg gags will leave you shell-shocked. Occasionally sketches make a bit of a point, such as lifestyle or diet choices being made to sound medical, but the duo insist the show's underlying message is that accents are funny. 

Wrong again, as it’s all about friendship, codependence and being there for someone, explored not only through the between-sketch dialogue but in the reprisal of amusing scenes and witty characters now given a heightened twist.

The issues are covered in a nuanced, messy, true-to-life way rather than as twee slogans, while the underlying message about the importance of such relationships comes into its own in a finale that demonstrates the strength of the Egg pair’s bonds in a very literal way.

Review date: 28 Aug 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard