What: Superclump featuring  Henry Paker, Henry Widdicombe,Sian Harries, Mike Wozniak, Elis James, Ben Partridge, Tom Craine, Josh Widdicombe, and Nat Luurtsema.
Where: The GRV
When: 2.40pm, until Sunday 30 August
How Much: £5

In 140 char­ac­ters or less: “If they can just get the timing as fast as a speeding bullet Superclump will become a sketch group of steel.”

I’m not sure how many people are in Superclump. I could find out but I prefer to be happily dazzled and mystified by the array of characters this large and enthusiastic cast play.

This is a bizarre sketch show, with some Big Train-ish moments and lashings of stupid dances. It holds together well, but the pacing sometimes loses its way, leaving the audience unsure when to applaud. Some sketches were just too long (a brilliant stand off between two macho lotharios loses it’s way trying to get to a pun) and others just too short (the annoying Red Riding Hood and her short tempered grandmother).

The acting for the most part is pretty strong: Mike Wozniak is absolutely on top form, and he clearly leads the group on stage. Tom Craine and Nat Luurtsema get some of the best lines, but it’s a real team effort overall and there’s something delightful about watching sketches where you’re never sure quite how many more people will end up on stage.

The team are quite successful in getting all their personalities across, despite playing a variety of characters without breaking the fourth wall particularly often, though it was a charming and revealing moment to see Craine and Elis James corpsing in the Aesop sketch. It’s clear there is a central drive to the sense of humour which makes Superclump great, and with such a large cast they could have easily lost their way with this.

In order to really get the most out of this show, watch out for when sketches take a darker turn: a dance turns bizarrely violent, children play some very odd games, and just wait until you find out what’s in the party bags…

There are definitely a few dud moments they could scrap in this show, and it suffers mildly from the post-lunch sleepy slot, but when Superclump shine they really dazzle.

Festbuzz Rating:

Words: Elise Bramich

Who: Idiots of Ants
Where: Pleasance Over the Road 2
When: 8.15pm, daily until 31st August 2009 (not 24th)
How Much: £8.50-£10

In 140 char­ac­ters or less: “The slick indie band of comedy have nothing left to prove– except their identity.”

I knew I had nothing to fear in the capable hands of popular sketch group Idiots of Ants: these boys leave nothing to chance and their timing is almost perfectly sculpted. However, as I looked down through the railings in the venue (Pleasance Over the Road 2), the feeling of being removed from the performance was unavoidable. With a strong use of multimedia (music stings, video, photography and other audio-visual trickery) this does occasionally feel like watching a show on TV. The boys have amiable personae and they are not without their obligatory young female fan base in the audience.

However, not everyone is connecting with them.

Idiots of Ants’ sketches liberally reference everything from sci fi to war films, from pop culture to video games, though this sometimes becomes a little unwieldy, with laughs from different areas of the audience at different times. While this shows a broad range of appeal, it isn’t massively cohesive and raises the question of who they are aiming their show at.

The strongest sketches lie in unpredictable moments: the video game sketch in particular is a real treat, and the only point when the audience interaction really works. It also is invaluable to see the boys riffing off each other in a slightly less rehearsed way. Though the thorough rehearsal and strong timing can be appreciated theatrically, the lack of ability to come fully out of character and engage the audience is what mars this otherwise brilliant performance.

This is a great hour of excellent entertainment, and it’s both visually exciting and most importantly funny. While the finale lacks a really good the punchline, the energy level never drops and there’s never a lull in proceedings.

Everyone can hope to look forward to great things from Idiots of Ants: they are a tight knit group, and if they can just let their fans in a little bit more and let them find out who they really are, they could go stellar.

Festbuzz Rating:

Words: Elise Bramich