This well written show, performed by Jamie Armitage and Orlando Gibbs, in their first foray together as a comedic duo, certainly lit up my dreary Monday evening. It was a true feat of endurance for these relative novices whose previous experience of stand-up had yet to last beyond twelve minutes. The pair completed their show in style with a colourful array of what some might call ‘shit shirts’ and other ‘fashion statements’, whilst performing sketches based on a variety of themes and highlighting a number of the performers talents from rhymes and mime to chords and song. 

Orlando’s skill on the piano was showcased in full with the use of an onstage piano for two songs, the first of which, covering the theme of being awkward, was very funny; accompanied by both awkward facial expressions and a very awkward filler at the end of his serenade. I felt the second song was less impressive, but nonetheless covered all the elements of being a teenager locked away in your bedroom in an amusing manner. He had a real onstage presence, which made up for small falters in his material and delivery. Last but not least though, the audience unexpectedly came away from Orlando’s set with some nutritional snacks in the form of a bag of Wotsits.

Jamie’s set took the show down a different, more silent route, performing a mime section where the poor guy managed to go through what could easily be a comedian’s worst nightmare… picking the wrong audience member to participate. I don’t think she’d quite grasped the core theme of mime when she blurted out a question onstage: asking Jamie whether he used to date a friend of hers when he was eleven. Nonetheless, the sketch was incredibly well redeemed by Jamie who swiftly moved onto the second part that involved seven audience members who, it was eventually revealed, would ask the particpant: ‘wi-ill-yuh-oo-ma-rr-ee-ma-ee’. Laughs all around certainly made up for the difficulty of the first volunteer. Despite his lack of piano-playing ability cleverly masked by the use of an ‘invisible piano’, Jamie was still a dab-hand at singing and his story-telling abilities were also highlighted. 

Although the show was awkward in parts and I didn’t come away with the pain of side-cramp one gets from laughing for an hour straight, it was very cleverly written and well performed. Overall, it was very enjoyable and I look forward to seeing more work from these two in the future.