KING’S THEATRE, EDINBURGH – UNTIL 2nd APRIL
REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER
4****
This show has clearly been an annual fixture in the Edinburgh Theatre scene for a number of years (apart from last couple of years, obviously) and the audience attending the show last night seemed to know exactly what to expect – skits with characters that were clearly familiar brought the house down before even a word had been uttered. And these skits between Allan Stewart and Grant Stott are the mainstay of the show – with gentle but fairly adult humour throughout, the pair clearly love working together and the warmth between them is both endearing and makes for excellent comedy timing. For those who have been to the Panto at the King’s Theatre, some of the routines and characters will be familiar.
Their tribute to their former colleague Andy Gray, who sadly died last year, was touching and funny, and I imagine that for audiences of previous variety shows, his absence must have been felt keenly.
Other stand out performances came from Max Fulman the ventriloquist, who performed a brilliantly clever, engaging and funny routine with his puppets Gordon the Monkey and Eugene the Grandad. Nicola Meehan’s vocal set was incredible and held the audience spell-bound. And a special mention should go to Andy Pickering and his band, who were on stage throughout, providing top notch musical accompaniment.
I had taken a teenager with me to see the show and a lot of the references, joke and music went totally over her head, so it was clear that the show was aimed at a more middle aged/older demographic who were long term Allan Stewart fans. However it was an amusing, old-style night out and the standing ovation at the end demonstrated that this audience was delighted with what they had seen.