Sheeps is a bloody silly name for anything, if you ask me, let alone a three-man sketch show. Then again, I suppose because it’s a grammatical error (nerds, I know, specifically it’s a morphological error) it does have a sort of je ne sais quoi about it, doesn’t it? Like those bloody government ads that kept me up half the night cause they told everyone to drive ‘five miles less,’ not ‘five miles fewer’. Actually, now that I come to think about it, perhaps Sheeps isn’t such a terrible name for the show after all, because that’s exactly what is was like: kind of a balls-up, kind of silly, kind of frenzied and, to be honest, kind of, erm, hilarious.

The three performers used to be regulars at the ADC. Liam Williams, Daran Johnson and Alistair Roberts: three ex-Footlights regulars who have decided, after taking the show up and down the country, to just pop back to see how the place is getting on without them. And, as every good choirboy can tell you, just as the prodigal son gets a pretty warm reception, so too were the audience last night rather welcoming. Enthusiastic, I’d say. Well, enthusiastic, bordering on generous, perhaps, because in the first three minutes the word ‘vignettes’ got a laugh and that’s not really the most hilarious word I can think of... erm... like, what about flippidy-jizzbit? Or... Hazel Blears?

That said, the boys soon lived up to their expectation. Essentially, the show consisted of ‘the show’ and all the bits that weren’t good enough to get in ‘the show,’ which were performed before ‘the show’. "Kind of like extras on a DVD," explained Roberts, "though they come before the main event and you haven’t got any choice, you have to watch them."

On the whole, I thought the early sketches were pretty good, but their slapdash, kind of improvised delivery did make the guys look like just three mates having a laugh rather than putting on a performance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it wasn’t ‘big laughs’ funny. That is, of course, until they staged a medley of the new musical they’re working on, based on Dickens’ Oliver Twist. After spotting a gap in the market, the boys have composed a rip-roaring set of showtunes with lines like, "Please, sir, can I have seconds?" and "Selling! I’m selling this boy!".

The main event was a little more consistent and was very, very funny. Especially sparkly moments came with Liam Williams’s disgruntled beach comber and the premier of Daran Johnson’s musical Fusspots and Worrypans. Special mention should go to Alistair Roberts, who not only did a weirdly convincing mutant, but also did a hilarious bit as a nervous rapper pleading with his bitch not to divorce him. The latter of which may well be my favourite rap song ever.

Ultimately, its a sketch show and so is bound to be a bit hit and miss. However, when it did hit the mark, Sheeps was warm, playful and frankly bloody hysterical.