The Aspidistras: Hi Noon!

★★

comedy review (edinburgh) | Read in About 2 minutes

By Evan Beswick

Published 17 Aug 2012

39658 original

The Aspidistras—comedy duo Gerardine Coyne and Maria Hodson—aren't lying when they promise the provision of crisps at their annual Edinburgh holiday/business trip. Rejecting the option of Hula Hoops or Monster Munch, I went for Nik-Naks at the door. Hang on, though, this gives them an idea for a song... It's an extraordinarily elaborate set up, a sketch which must have been conceived before the Fringe programme went to print – but when it's all for a slightly clunky piece of audience participation, one can't help but be just a bit let down. And that, really, sums up a show which for the most part feels under-rehearsed, under-written and underwhelming.

That's not to say it's a car wreck. The pair create some nice moments, the antagonistic relationship between the pair proving effective as they berate, goad and embarrass each other for laughs. A sketch which involves increasing one-upmanship over how well read each of the two imagine themselves to be is an island of solid writing and crisp performance in otherwise choppy seas. But in this washy world costume changes take as long as the sketches, and dubious groans are offered up in place of laughs. A long finalé based on a dance competition between the pair feels they've relied on just being funny rather than on writing well in order to kill time. It perhaps doesn't help that they are unintentionally upstaged by one particularly enthusiastic audience participant.

Coyne and Hodson are a likeable pair, whose schtick involves kicking any hint of pretention into the longest of grass. But it's surely possible to remain unpretentious while slickly packing in the laughs?