We’re watching an attempted murder, live on stage at Brighton Komedia. A rambunctious rich tea biscuit is taking too many liberties, and is soon to be dunked-off by his former pals, Jammy Dodger, Bourbon, et al., in a dreaded Sports Direct mug.
The Biscuit Barrel are a self-defined semi-professional sketch group who are making waves on the comedy circuit. Is their show best of the barrel, or are they leaving us with crumbs?
Never fear, The Biscuit Barrel deliver a show that is jam-packed and doesn’t deserve dodging. Their energetic escapades serve sketch perfection, with a new idea ushered in every few seconds and a high success rate with the audience. Shift changes aren’t an easy thing to get right in sketch, and The Biscuit Barrel achieve this with bells on.
This talented team also explore a variety of other forms to great success, from traditional songs and beatboxing, to rapping. The acting is spot-on, with each new character ushered in fully-conceived and completely believable. With so many shift changes, this is impressive.
The lighting, props and audio are all imaginative, including use of a hula hoop as a keyring, with the team encircling it as the keys. The biscuit concept is playful, and other jokes about foodstuffs also go down well, with a bread-based-bit leading to an explosion of laughter. There’s several returning jokes and threads which the audience get a kick out of every single time they return.
The members of the Biscuit Barrel demonstrate real commitment to their characters, from expressing derision to an audience member who selected a KitKat as their favourite biscuit (‘Not a biscuit!’), to one member willingly putting a fellow castmate’s sock in his mouth. It’s momentary method comedy, and we love to see it.
The Biscuit Barrel promise to deliver 69-sketches in 60 minutes, and although they run a fraction over time, their pacing between sketches is superb. Although, 69 sketches, while conceptually playful, may be a handful too many skits. As the hour mark approaches, the audience fidgeting suggests a little editing would be helpful. However, the content of this show is great and this reviewer is pleased to say that the celebration of this sketch group is completely warranted.
Reviewed on 10th May
