Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

He surely picked his time slot for the almost-pun, but Darryl J Carrington’s Tennish doesn’t feel like a 10pm show (or even the 10.03pm it should rightly have been programmed for to make the gag work). The mime and prop comedy performance has strong family-friendly vibes in keeping with Carrington’s long background in the genre – and certainly the kids up past their bedtime were delighted. Adults might find this quite simplistic compared to some of the more inventive and uproarious clown shows around town, but Carrington conveys a good sense of undemanding fun.

As the title suggests, the show is themed almost entirely around tennis, creating an aesthetic through-line, with our performer dressing in the requisite kit and using racquets as guitars for Bill-And-Ted style celebratory riffs and balls as back-up singers – as well as their more-or-less intended purpose. 

There’s also an enjoyable recurring gag about a toy dog training itself both mentally and physically – Rocky-style – to be able to do a somersault. Plus a separate bit of business with two volunteers using an unconventional method to make a cup of tea.

Similar shows use such skits to make audience members look slightly stupid by giving imprecise instructions. But Carrington is more generous than that, and presents most of the joke up front, leaving his chosen collaborators to execute it.

There’s something a bit Tape-Facey about some of the prop work, though the visual gags here tend to be significantly more direct, lacking the gaffer-mouthed Kiwi’s lightbulb moments of revelation. Most of the jokes in Tennish are fairly simple, in fact, even though Carrington milks them well with his jester-like demeanour and expressive eyeshadow-enhanced peepers. Leaning on his clown background, he also pretends to have a grace and elegance his persona lacks.

The evening’s main scene involves two audience members playing a ‘real’ game of tennis. Tonight’s picks were especially good at playing along with the conceit – one, especially, going full  Eddie Van Halen when it came to throwing himself into the guitar riffs.

But playing out a full game seemed to repeat the gag a little too much, creating a sense that Carrington’s playing for time – a feeling that was definitely reinforced when this preview show came down after just 40 minutes. However, there is promise of a juggling scene and shenanigans similar to Tim Vine’s ‘pen behind the ear’ routine to make up the time by official opening night.

Review date: 8 Aug 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Underbelly Bristo Square