Vladimir McTavish and Keir McAllister Look at the State of Scotland

20 minutes into their politically charged double act, Keir McAllister promises us that the preceding Alex Salmond fat joke will be their last. "Why?" responds McTavish. "Have you forgotten the rest of the script?"

This neatly sums up the contradiction of Vladimir McTavish and Keir McAllister Look at the State of Scotland; while it aims to achieve something unconventional and necessary, many of the gags it pulls out are achingly familiar, and as comedy routines on Scotland go, tread some very well-worn territory. McTavish and McAllister aren't wrong, however, when they point out that the artistic and satirical response to Scotland's upcoming independence referendum has been mysteriously muted. The pair conclude this is down to public apathy, something they find understandably disgusting when it comes to the biggest decision in a nation's history.

Though never so partisan it becomes alienating, the duo approach their topic with an obvious nationalist undercurrent—though the SNP get as many jabs as anyone else—which lends the performance a nice streak of antiauthoritarianism it might have lacked if their political sympathies lay elsewhere. Their best material is fired with righteous anger and wry cynicism, but relies heavily on punchlines and one-liners, the remainder of their monologues tending to wander and fizzle for far too long. Though anyone with more than a glancing interest in Scottish politics will find something to appreciate, the show falls far short of its intention. McTavish and McAllister will enliven little debate, but they do raise a few laughs.