A bow tie, a tie and a pair of braces adorn the outfits of each of the three Irish comedians that make up Foil Arms and Hog, the sketch comedy trio. Their almost one billion online views have pulled in fans from all over, enough to fill the London Palladium. But a scroll down their YouTube page would only give you a small taste of the mastery the three comedy pros bring to their on-stage performance, where they really shine. Foil Arms & Hog’s established show Hogwash is a full-length foray into comedic genius, excellent crowd work and suitcase impersonation.
Sean Finegan, Conor McKenna and Sean Flanagan squint as they scout the stalls for their targets when Hogwash begins, using the people they find more than the simple props hidden behind two small curtains on the stage. Over 15 years of touring has meant that the comedy trio don’t need outrageous technology to keep the audience laughing for over 90 minutes.
The show dedicates an even amount of time to crowd work and to more rehearsed sketches, which cover everything from feeding the ducks, to a ghost hunt that involves heelys, a robot dad, drunken monks, and more. A smash of a cymbal sitting on stage brings sketches to the end, always after the perfect amount of time milking laughs out of a delighted audience. A recurring sketch about suitcases on a luggage belt is an excellent motif that is consistently successful at transitioning between segments of the show.
Seamlessly rehearsed, the group still find time for improvisation throughout, especially around the different reactions between audiences in the UK vs the USA. Jokes about domestic flights and the idea of something existing over 200 years ago were apparently lost on their US.
The performance is built around the audience interactions and the three suited men meandering around the stage master the art without a hitch. Their excellent relationship means no one person shines more than the rest (although the nickname of Hog for Sean Flanagan came from his capacity to ‘hog’ the limelight).
This effortless entertainment may vary from night to night, depending on how well the victims they chose from the audience perform and participate. It is the comedians’ dream when the person you’ve targeted in the audience is on a first date with the person sitting next to him. The improvisation makes the show flexible and fresh enough to not feel tired after over a year of touring and off the back of a 26 consecutive show run at Edinburgh Fringe.
Overall, Hogwash is the dream combination of excellent sketches and improv brilliance. In no other show will audiences see such an in-depth exploration of the psyche of a suitcase, as well as a myriad of other fabulous performances. Internet stars they may be, but live performance is where the genius of Foil Arms and Hog really lies. The laughs start when they arrive on stage and don’t stop until they leave.
Runs until 7 October at the London Palladium and then continues to tour
The Reviews Hub Score
The laughs don’t stop
