Fringereviews
Among live comedy’s current formats for survival, the drive-in gig is surely the most novel, at least for UK audiences. As with arena shows pre-covid, having performers simultaneously projected onto big screens can make it feel like watching television. But there is perfectly synched sound via your car radio and an interactive element, with appreciation requested through horn beeps.
The title of Steve N Allen and Erich Mcelroy’s twice-weekly topical dispatch seems brutally ironic, at least when the news is such an all-enveloping smog of doom and gloom. But on their second series, the stand-ups have established an entertaining, relatively slick and reassuringly communal operation, ambitiously writing right up until broadcast and taking live questions throughout. What it loses in lockdown-imposed restrictions, Comics Solving Problems gains in feeling upto-the-minute.
American emigré Mcelroy has lived in the UK for two decades, but he can’t help but be preoccupied with Donald Trump’s re-election prospects.
Opening act Marc Jennings took the cue for automotive material, from his incredulous anecdote about his car being stolen during its MOT, to likening condom application to engine maintenance, a crudeness he carried through a hitand-miss set.
Stuart Mitchell was nimbler with his coronavirus quips, before settling into the tried and tested, including a winningly macabre account of how he met his actor wife, a pattern he pursued with ungallantly funny lines at the expense of her medical condition.
And while he has plenty of throwaway gags, he digs a little deeper with his package of commentary and archive footage, focusing on the US political conventions.
The Mash Report star Allen meanwhile, casts a sardonic eye over the government’s exam results U-turn, able to develop his thoughts further than his clipped delivery on the BBC Two satirical staple.
Less ambitious was veteran comic Des Mclean. His panto anecdotes and horse racing observations were workaday, but he got a big reaction repurposing Sweet Caroline for these plague times.
Finally, Susie Mccabe amused with her wry take on the First Minister’s daily briefings, before underwhelming with half-baked thoughts on English drinkers. But she ultimately pulled it around with the engaging tale of her grandmother’s final moments.
Steve N Allen and Erich Mcelroy get topical online
Initially, there’s a feel of two halves bolted together, of one just nodding along to the other’s script. But there is plenty of appeal in witnessing the pair surprise and amuse each other.
Happily, the format gets looser as they move beyond the top stories and wade into the audience contributions. A micro-budget Daily Show, it’s well worth making regular time for.