If there were a big top show at the Footlights circus, this would be it: the Footlights’ International Tour Show is intended to showcase to the world (namely Edinburgh and the USA – though surprisingly not Canada) Cambridge’s finest comedic talent. Unfortunately, Canada didn’t quite live up to its name. This enjoyable, though decidedly run-of-the-mill show suffered from being overlong (though will undoubtedly be slimmed down in time for the Fringe) and overworked, sacrificing humour for eccentricity.

Very little, disappointingly, was made of the titular theme, other than Matty Bradley’s brief mention of a fairytale quest to Canada. Some sense of cohesion was created by recurring scenes, such as Matilda Wnek’s Death Machine, which, despite proving surprisingly fruitful for comic material, became slightly overused. Some familiar Footlights tropes – such as abrupt demonic interludes – were dutifully wheeled out, only to be left unexploited of comic potential. Sketches began promisingly, only to fizzle out with no discernible punchline. Altogether, this felt less like the cleverly coherent narrative one might expect from the Footlights, than a ragbag test-run of potential sketches for Edinburgh.

Kudos, however, for novelty and experimentalism: the show was composed of almost entirely new material, and made use of a lot of quirky features previously unseen on the Cambridge stage. Occasionally, this was clever without being funny: sketches which last precisely one minute and fifty-three seconds might be kooky and original, but aren’t gag-worthy in themselves. That said, the reference sheets handed out during the interval, though potentially gimmicky, were made great use of – though this was one of the few occasions when such inventiveness paid off.

Often, more was made of less: sketches involving simple, well-executed physical comedy (Rosa Robson’s taut wire, Wnek and Bradley’s open-mouthed period drama) drew more laughs from the audience than those elaborately conceived though haphazardly performed. A perfect example was ‘The Audience Member’s Dilemma’: what a great idea to reward an audience member for his selfishness! But when a briefcase of money was procured and £8 doled out, it felt like a joke taken too far.

The saving grace of Canada was Emma Sidi: her Friday night DJ and bashful sketch-writer were signs of a talented character actor, who more than pulled her weight amongst the foursome. Though dressing up as a giant spider may not make for the most high-brow comedy, the audience loved it, and would have appreciated more of such silliness. Like Sidi’s character’s own failed sketch, much of Canada was more theoretically than laugh-out-loud funny, relying too heavily on ideas, whilst neglecting execution.