Simon Ward reviews The Half-Cocked Sketch Show at The Hen and Chickens

Half-Cocked Theatre is the brainchild of Elliott Campion and Teddy Robson. After producing a hit show in Edinburgh in 2019 there seems to have been a Covid-related hiatus and now they re-emerged with this new show, which they hope to take to the Edinburgh Fringe next year. It would be a perfect addition.

At a rip-roaring sixty minutes long, performers (and audience) barely have time to take a breath under a barrage of frequently hilarious sketches. The point of this show is to make you laugh. There doesn’t seem to be any other agenda. And in that it proves to be highly successful. There is a tease about a ‘pronouns’ sketch which hints at a more controversial theme, but it turns out to be a grammar lesson about the inappropriate use of the word ‘me’. Which ends with two gangsters grammatically correctly professing their love for each other… There is another tease for a sketch we do not get to see involving a silk kimono and a rather lifelike dildo standing proud. Maybe next time for that one.

Popping up at intervals are the TV news presenters – Squirrel TV, ‘the only news programme with nuts’ – who become increasingly surreal as the evening progresses. There is a tiny nod to the festive season – they don Santa hats for a couple of sketches – but as August in Edinburgh is the target, seasonal gags are minimal. So no Mariah Carey, then, but rest assured that Shania Twain is present and correct.

The potentially relentless whirl of sketch after sketch is leavened by some meta-theatrical banter. Elliott plays the one in charge, Teddy is subjected to a merciless ‘roasting’ although he does attempt to retaliate. And the reason we miss the tantalising kimono sketch is because Teddy ‘forgot’ the prop. All of which adds another layer of comedy and is even rather touching. In spite of the hectic pace this is a really well-crafted evening, and the performers don’t put a foot wrong.

Above all, this is very funny way to spend an hour. You may emerge exhausted but you will be grinning from ear to ear.

The Half-Cocked Sketch Show runs until 16th December at The Hen and Chickens, 109 St Paul’s Road, London N1 2NA