School Of Comedy

Can a bunch of secondary school children possibly do a sketch show that isn't cringeworthy? Well, yes they can - this able troupe have performed live at two Edinburgh Festivals, thus doing their comedy homework. The charismatic Will Poulter (of Son Of Rambow fame) holds it all together, playing a variety of incompetents (teacher, lawyer, doctor, security guard, brain surgeon and, most entertainingly, a 1940s estate agent) in sketches that have just the right levels of surprises and puerility. Overall, a B+.

The children acting out adult insecurities in Comedy Lab: Kids School of Comedy looked as if they were doing it off their own bats, though that may have been an illusion created by the absence of adults on screen. This was a sketch show acted entirely by teenagers, but featuring adult themes and - maybe a little too self-consciously - adult language.

While there was a bit of the dog walking on its hind legs about this - It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all (copyright 1763, Dr S Johnson) - there wasn't as much as you might have expected. The cast were pretty darn competent, though one supposedly American accent sent me scurrying behind the sofa and, as with most school plays, they needed to be told to keep their hands still (the director needed to be told to keep the camera still, too). The standard of the gags was higher than a lot of grown-up comedians manage (I'm thinking of Titty Bang Bang and Little Miss Jocelyn), as well, though the idea of replacing punchlines with children lip-synching to songs, Bugsy Malone-style, was a bad one. But I wasn't clear what was being proved here: a general proposition about children's ability to perform comedy? Or was it a more particular theory about particular individuals, with adult careers ahead of them and a yen to get some television on their CVs?

With the glut of sketch shows currently clogging up the schedules, it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. School of Comedy achieves this triumphantly by handing over adult material to adolescent performers.

Yes, I know, it sounds an appalling idea. But the confidence, talent and professionalism of the cast quickly dispels all suspicions of gimmickry or fears of on-screen stage school precocity run rampant. Instead, the use of young actors brings a genuine freshness to a tired old format and introduces several new faces to watch out for. It is, of course, totally unfair on an ensemble cast to single out personal favourites, so I shall resist. Suffice to say, Will Poulter and Lily Ainsworth, you know who you are.

More comedy pilots to test the waters with audiences before full series are commissioned. In fact, they're so fresh, no preview DVDs were available; but tonight's premiere, School Of Comedy, a sketch show featuring foul-mouthed children, sounds like it could be a winner.

Out of the mouths of babes

Article looking at the School of Comedy's 2007 Pleasance Courtyard show.