Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Of all the slick, sophisticated sketch shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, 99 Red Balloons in a Trench Coat is not one of them. It’s two sweaty out-of-shape blokes shouting punchlines in a cave… but it is stupid, relentless fun.

There is no set or video elements, just a box full of cheap props and a laptop loaded with sound cues. Nor are the pair under any illusions that they are great actors, they just get the gag out and move on.

The pace is manic, with many pared-to-the-bone scenes lasting just a few seconds. The wordplay they love needs no more than that, lest the audience beat them to the punchline. Sometime they still might, but it remains fun to see a skit about, say, a serial killer called Dr Thesaurus hit its expected marks quickly and efficiently, delivered by a couple of performers so obviously loving the stupidity of it all.

They take a moment midway through to ‘congratulate’ themselves on the worst pun in the entire show. ‘So far…’ comes the threat.

Other ideas are surreal or just plain daft. Sure, maybe your ex did leave you for a giant Uno card, what if there was actually a money tree? And have you played the Gordon Ramsay edition of Dungeons & Dragons? Perhaps surprisingly this last one is the sole recurring sketch of the show.

99 Red Balloons In A Trench Coat is a heady mix of dumb wordplay and imaginative concepts - you’ll never look at the extra chair in a Travelodge room in quite the same way again. Yes, there are duds, and plenty of them, but it’s a numbers game, and the hits far outweigh the misses. 

The show only runs for 45 minutes, but that’s plenty. As with the sketches themselves, the duo don’t want to outstay their welcome, and for gags-per-minute, no one can feel shortchanged.

One of the pair – Alex Denley Spencer – has previously worked with the similarly hyperactive Biscuit Barrel sketch troupe, the other, Baz Evans, has been in Cambridge Footlights. Together they have created a low-rent, but high-laugh celebration of mucking about.

• Chortle’s coverage of sketch and multi-character acts at the Edinburgh Fringe is supported by (but not influenced by) the Seven Dials Playhouse. Read more

Review date: 22 Aug 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Just The Tonic at The Caves