This is a show where four comedy acts come on stage and are challenged to perform a comedy set without swearing. There is a swear jar on the stage and a 50p fine for any transgressions. I know a few comedians who would be bankrupted after doing a set!
Each show is hosted by Tony Vino and he was a personable and friendly host, chatting to the audience and explaining the concept of the show before introducing the first guest of the day. Carl Hutchison came on stage looking flustered and unprepared, reading his lines from a page while skipping all the rude words, then running off apologising for his inability to stay clean. Then after a minute of an empty stage he returned much better dressed (and a bit puffed from running upstairs, changing and running back down) to explain he just couldn’t resist the false start routine. He then launched into a routine about the joys of the X-Factor audition shows. Very funny five minute spot and no swearing so far.
Next up was Juliet Myers who admitted to being compared to a female Brian May in appearance and she performed a routine involving being a vegan, living alone and fantasy husbands, the joys of myspace, feminism and having a special hole in her ear. She said a rude word while engaging with the audience and sadly had to pay her fine.
We then had a short break for drinks/nibbles at the bar at the back of the room before the second half.
First act of part two was the sketch duo Girl and Dean, who performed a very funny routine about the Womens Institute having a revolution against the British Government. We then had a short sketch about how to spot a German spy (is there ever going to be a time when the WWII jokes end?) and finally an alternative version of the nativity. The girls have their own show at this years festival which may be worth a look on the strength of this short snippet.
Finally we had Andy Kline, who did a classic stand-up routine about performing around the country and how some venues treated comedians as well as a lot of regional comedy.
So for an hour and a half of very good clean family-friendly comedy (there were five kids under 12 at the show I saw) for a fiver, very little swearing and a place out of the teeming rain, you can’t get much better value than this show.
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.