2010 Edinburgh Fringe
The Real MacGuffins review
The best thing about Edinburgh is picking up a flyer for an act you've never heard of and actually liking what you see. The worst case scenario is you hate it and desperately wish you hadn't wasted that hour of your life and leave the gig wanting to be unreasonably violent. In the case of The Real MacGuffins, I breathed a sigh of relief within the first five minutes.
The sketch troupe, made up of three rather plummy blokes, are fine if you like your comedy unchallenging and easy to digest. In fact, this show is perfect if you're suffering from one of those dreaded Fringe Festival hangovers which seem to last longer and are more virulent than those back home. The sketches are simple and immediately identifiable, which means your brain doesn't have to work hard to get it.
We did get distracted by a young man in the front row who, worse for wear in one way or another, insisted on falling asleep in the spotlight. His reaction, though, was thankfully not typical of the rest of the crowd. The laughs were gentle and consistent from the audience all the way through the performance, as we are presented with a variety of characters and situations expected of any typical sketch group about these days.
The constant ragging of one of the performers (he was picked on for not being as good or as funny, and was made to clear up after each skit) got on my nerves after a while. And one thing is blatantly clear - these three are actors, not comics, and boy do we know it. Everything from their accents and mannerisms to the references they make are firmly rooted in acting. But then, there are other acts on the circuit at the moment who are just the same, so let's not hold that against them, eh?
The trio definitely saved the best sketch for last - in fact, it was that good I told my friends afterwards and I shall never look at fonts in the same way again. Yes fonts, you heard me. The show, despite its minor weaknesses, is worth it for that alone.