Creators: The Two Horsemen
The Two Horsemen bring some much-needed class to the improv shows at this year’s Camden Fringe. Slotting some crowd-pleasing and old-fashioned improv games into a Lord of the Flies scenario, Liam Brennan and Tom Jacob Ewles excel at being funny.
We’re children on a Brian Airways flight to Hawaii where a school improv competition is to take place. Ewles is our enthusiastic drama teacher while Brennan is his grumpy teaching assistant. When our plane crashes on a desert island, Brennan sees his chance to usurp his superior’s position as leader. Let the games begin.
It’s a silly setup but one that provides a framework for the skits which the audience is very much a part of, calling out names and genres for the pair to work with. These routines are very funny, especially one that sees two ex-lovers talking about cars and pianos at a pool party. Brennan is particularly quick on his toes here as he suggests automobiles for zoo animals. A convertible for a giraffe, naturally.
Occasionally, presumably in order to get back to the island antics, some games are too rapidly curtailed as in the genre one where Brennan and Ewles are brothers in a Western then a romcom. It would be good to allow this sequence to run a little longer as there are many more laughs to be mined from such a traditional improv sketch.
The 60 minutes fly in the capable and professional hands of the Two Horsemen and the mixture of narrative and impro works exceedingly well and, importantly, there is plenty for the audience to do unlike other improv shows where the audience is allowed only one initial suggestion. And the pair create such a welcoming atmosphere that spectators are eager to participate.
It would be a pleasure to be stranded on a desert island with these two.
Reviewed on 18 August 2024
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
