2011 Edinburgh Fringe
Horse & Louis review
Tucked away in a bizarre boothed backroom, Horse and Louis' hour of fast paced musical comedy takes the fairly addictive and competitive card game Top Trumps as a method for judging people and their comparative value. They kick this theme off with an excellent song about an unwanted guest at a party, managing to breathe new life into a fairly stale topic with some fantastic lines and an energy that they go on to maintain for the whole show. Following this, they take their Top Trumps approach and apply it to the crowd, whittling them down at various points throughout the show in order to find the 'best' audience member. This is a fairly novel gimmick and allows them to make everyone feel included and at ease in this cramped and awkward venue.
It may seem obvious to compare a musical duo to Flight of the Conchords, but since the New Zealanders have set the benchmark so high it only seems sensible to do so. In the best way possible, Horse and Louis' Top Trumpin' certainly has shades of The Conchords but they manage to create their own identities and set themselves apart through their audience interaction and their unique rapport with each other. As they point out at the beginning, looks wise, they are almost opposites and whilst they have developed their characters accordingly, perhaps if they were more clearly defined in opposition to each other it could create more laughs. When they do this, as in their song about getting in touch with their feminine sides, they really come up trumps. Having said this, the characters really do sit well together and play off each other with skill and ease.
Although competent musicians and singers, they don't rely on this as a cover for a lack of laughs. Each of their songs is peppered with lines and ideas that are well formed and deftly delivered. It is also a relief that they know not to let a song go on too long and, apart from their last number, the length of the songs is perfect in sustaining the audience's interest. In fact the last song, for me, was the only real weak point in the show. It felt a bit confused and overlong. That is not to say it wasn't enjoyable and there were certainly some laughs, especially with the audience participation, but the song as a whole felt like a slight anti-climax to what had been an excellent hour of comedy.
Overall though, this pair really is deserving of an hour of your time and a chance for you to say you saw them before they started selling out bigger venues - as I have no doubt they will.
Horse and Louis: Top Trumpin'! - Free listing