Frisky and Mannish: Extra-Curricular Activities

Fringe stalwarts Frisky and Mannish have invaded Scotland once more, and if the half mile queue outside Assembly Hall is anything to go by, the duo haven’t lost their ability to pack out the festival’s largest venues. Extra-curricular Activities is their latest kitsch offering, and whilst evidently still a commercial hit, it feels like something of a let-down. The gags are too obvious, and the lack of any kind of premise or plot cheapens what could be, and has in the past been, a good show.

Frisky’s voice remains the real star, and the pair compliment each other well over the course of the hour. But there is nothing much to their material, and many of the numbers lack the amusing rewrites of their past performances. The medleys seem to be plucked at random, and the songs selected to riff on are unvaried, which does not help the narrow feel of the piece. A number about the clichéd lyrics of “elephant in the room” Kelly Clarkson, which replaces her phrases with well worn proverbs, seems too basic to be ironic, and simply guilty of the banality they are supposedly parodying.

Their audience engagement is second to none, and the speed with which they have the 700 seater venue dancing in the aisles is impressive. It is this fun loving, frou frou schtick that has earned them such a vast following, and their prancing does make for an amusing spectacle. Ultimately, though, the piece is just too vacuous to cause a stir.