Simple Town’s first show of their Edinburgh run sees them bring their signature absurdism to sketch comedy, a craft that can sometimes suffer from a backwards-looking Footlights traditionalism. Safe to say, there’s no risk of that marring their fresh and deliberately protracted approach. From the off, it’s clear the New York troupe worships a broad church of influences from Kaufman (both Andy, for his eerily childlike glee that could turn to tantrum at any time, and Charlie, whose metatextual screenplays could easily accommodate Simple Town’s cast of intellectually off-beat characters) to Garth Marenghi‘s Dark Place.
Their handbrake turns, from high to low brow and back again, make for a smart and original hour of comedy. But to say it’s full-throttle, tyre burning, whiplash inducing stuff is probably an oversell. Exactly why not, though, is hard to pin down. There’s often some US-UK fine tuning Transatlantic acts have to make at the Fringe, in terms of what to expect from the audience, and perhaps this accounts for some of the energy (or slight lack thereof) in the air. When it clicks though, this is sure to storm the barn. And there are still many nights left for it to do so.
Simple Town, Pleasance Courtyard, until 24 Aug, 8pm