As a regular pub quiz goer myself, I had looked forward to this new comedy offering at the Corpus Playroom. There were some recognisable elements from everyone’s local – silly, pun-filled team names and squabbles over who was the expert in each round. There was also a werewolf and a demonic hand puppet, which I must say I didn’t expect.

The Playroom has been given an alcohol license for this week’s shows and the barman (Henry Wilkinson) served drinks before the show, as well as signing us all up for his pub quiz. The improvisation from the cast as the audience walked in really did give the set a warm, friendly atmosphere. Also, I had cider, so I was pretty happy.

The show consists of a bunch of very unusual characters getting to know each other over the quiz, interspersed with each of their very bizarre backstories. In places it was not particularly polished, leading to characters occasionally speaking over each other, but this did not matter hugely in the laid back pub atmosphere. Each team member was reasonably likeable – even the obnoxious Quiz Champ (Colin Rothwell) redeemed himself by the end – and their petty arguments were fairly amusing and relatable. Lily Lindon as Wendy the children’s entertainer stood out, with her bubbly energy and constant childish smile and her perfectly timed attempts to inject positivity into her companions which were always met with laughs from the audience.

On the other hand, each character’s bizarre background seemed a little unfitting with the atmosphere created. That’s not to say that some of the more absurd plot points were not funny. The group’s journey into the mind palace of all quizzing knowledge was definitely a highlight, as was their energetic depiction of a werewolf attack. However, the show never managed to reach quite the heights of hilarity it seemed to be aiming for and I think this uncertainty about what sort of comedy it was going for was one of the reasons many of the jokes fell a little short of the mark. Some of the moments which I’m sure would have gained a great laugh in a show that had gone for full on absurdity just came off as downright strange.

Overall, the show was good fun, and definitely had its moments, but could have done with a little more focus on what it was trying to achieve.