Adams and Rea: Blissfully Unaware

One undeniable asset of musical comedy acts is that their tunes can usefully fill any nasty gaps left by the absence of laughter. It’s an uneasy minute, then, when Sarah Adams and Leisa Rea put down their guitars and perform a sketch consisting of deathly quiet and furtive glances. What’s intended as a hilariously awkward silence is just plain awkward.

For all the chemistry between the straight-faced Adams and the elfin, hyperactive Rea, there's little in the way of belly laughs during much of the rest of the show. Whilst a healthy stock of astute social observations (pointing out the “ridiculous bread” of smug middle-class couples is a masterstroke) raise appreciative smiles, the bulk of the humour is simply too gentle to satisfy fully. In fact, many of these songs would be more enjoyable without the uncomfortable awareness that one’s meant to be laughing.

The pair might do better to concentrate on their rapping: a salacious “educational” song about waste disposal is brilliantly funny, Rea outrageously grinding her hips while intoning “stick it in me big black bin” in a ludicrous Buju Banton growl. A second rap about “making sexy things unsexy” is equally fun, and there’s an enjoyably unsettling guitar number based on The Silence of the Lambs, with Adams gurning her way through a chorus lyric borrowed from the murderous Buffalo Bill. But these spells of genuine hilarity aren't quite enough to make up for the irksome lack of punchlines in the remainder of the set.