Invisible Dot New Wave Tour: Jonny Sweet, Nick Mohammed, Sheeps

Review by Bernard O'Leary | 08 Mar 2012

It's not often that you go to a gig where the producers are the stars, but that's what happens when the producers are The Invisible Dot. The smartest team in comedy are touring the UK with some of their best new signings and tonight's stop in Edinburgh includes Sheeps, Nick Mohammed and Jonny Sweet.

With no MC, sketch group Sheeps have to warm up the crowd themselves which they do pretty quickly with a well-worked routine about Oliver Twist. Sheeps are tight; there's no corpsing or winking to the audience, just a selection of well-written and sharply performed sketches.

Nick Mohammed is really something special. He's a character comic, but might be better understood as an impressionist who does impressions of ordinary people. His landlady character is a beautiful work with shades of Alan Bennett, while his struggling conductor is a piece of beautifully timed physical comedy like Eric Morecambe at his best.

The headliner is Jonny Sweet, and where else would you see an act like this? Comedy club booking agents rarely ring around saying, "I've need a headliner for Saturday, get me a slightly dickish public school dork to give a one-hour Powerpoint presentation on the HMS Nottingham". Maybe they should, because this is a hugely entertaining finale to a cracking evening of comedy.

At times the New Wave Tour feels more like a theatrical performance than a comedy gig, which means that it won't be to everyone's taste. But if you like your comedy daring, clever and with a pinch of genius, this is the show for you.

Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh. Friday March 2, 2012. http://www.theinvisibledot.com/tour/