News Revue continues at the Canal Café Theatre, London.
What better night to check out the long-running, much-acclaimed weekly News Revue skit sketch show than the night of the local council and Euro elections. Thankfully, though the four-strong cast and producers must have been very tempted to make this a purely politically focused one-off performance, plenty of other subjects were targeted, and as usual that meant a case of hit, slight misses, but also the occasional humorous lead balloon.
Updated on a weekly basis and with the cast changing every six weeks, this show still maintains a sense of unpredictability even after being founded back in 1979 at The Gate. The combined, highly flexible talents of Omar Ibrahim, Phillipa Flynn, Rob Witcomb and Victoria Blunt ensure that maximum comic effect is squeezed out of each sketch, even though at times the tag lines disappoint slightly – but not often.
What doesn’t disappoint is the willingness to snipe, sneer and poke joyous fun at all the main party leaders, London’s Mayor and a whole host of others, including of course a multitude (maybe too many) digs at UKIP. Seeing a crestfallen Nick Clegg being offered a zero contract new job was comedy gold – and that was before the votes were being counted on election night.
Any show that can contain a rattling good tune about taking selfies, a cover of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ performed with almost disturbing passion by Witcomb as Oscar Pistorius, and a devastatingly cruel, but hilarious dig at Rolf Harris has to get my vote as a good night out.
“Being in the News Revue has really stretched me as a performer. The show changes as rapidly as the news which means brave choices have to be made very quickly to give stories an interesting spin,” says Flynn. “Thursdays [first night of a weekly run] are usually the most nail-biting as it’s the first day to trial all the new material, it’s always exciting to see the audience’s reaction,” she adds. Like her full-on, spot-on fabulously coiffured Cilla Black skit.
If anything, this cast (and the others that follow) could take more risks and really go for the jugulars of a lot more public figures, personalities, companies and institutions. I’m guessing though that this being mellow, middle-class Maida Vale, the Frankie Boyle approach to comedy would be a step too far. As it stands, this is a great pun-packed hour, the bottom line being that at just £11 for a full price ticket, it’s also great value for an end of the week night out in London.
What would be interesting is if the casts and creative team behind the News Revue took the format out on the road, and by that I mean past the leafy environs of Golders Green. Favourite fleeting moment of the night? When Ibrahim appeared as a hooded grim reaper, aka Chancellor George Osbourne, salivating over any possible economic cuts – a brief, but brilliant cameo, and surely a whole potential sketch in itself.
Derek Smith
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