John-Luke Roberts & Nadia Kamil: The Behemoth

Why isn't this show working? It sounds great on paper: the commanding presence of John-Luke Roberts, the effortless clowning of Nadia Kamil, both throwing themselves with impressive vigour at a madcap bag of original and inventive sketches. And it starts well with a clever musical gag but the audience starts to drift away as the show goes on. Why is this?

With it being on in the afternoon, maybe the problem is that the audience is too sober. The Behemoth has a strong Shooting Stars vibe to it, an air of post-pub entertainment that doesn't sit well so early in the day. Maybe it's the dynamic between the two, which is so intimate that some of the sketches feel like a couple's in-joke (especially the cutesy talking belly button).

For whatever reason, The Behemoth fails to come to life and it's quite a disappointment for two such obviously talented people. Even Kamil doing an impression of a unicorn doing an impression of Kirsten Schaal can't lift it. Hopefully Roberts and Kamil will figure out what's wrong and fix it, because there's lots of potential there.