Cardinal Burns at Fringe Fest: Review

If Cardinal Burns as a show doesn't really work, it cannot be put down to lack of effort on the part of Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns. They arrive on stage in their boxer shorts and proceed to mime animatedly whilst ironing shirts to a cheesy auto-tuned r&b number. It's an attention-grabbing opening gambit, but not a particularly funny one. Unfortunately, this is a recurring problem in this evening's show.

After being nominated for the if.comedy award for their previous incarnation Fat Tongue, Cardinal and Burns return with a two-man sketch show that tries awfully hard, but never truly takes off. Many of the sketches here are well conceived, and there are moments where it all comes together and the show is genuinely funny, if only for a second, such as the routine in which a director instructs an auditioning actor through the motions for a decidedly bizzare soft drink commercial or where Cardinal hosts a This Is Your Life-esque show for thoroughly average people. But more often than not, the sketches fall flat or revert to tired comedy cliches for laughs.

Much has been said about the sketch show's supposed inferiority to stand-up as a medium, and Cardinal Burns certainly expose the difficulties the genre faces. Funny ideas and good acting do not necessarily translate into audience laughs, and a concept with real potential may not have time to develop into genuinely good comedy. As it stands, Cardinal Burns get full marks for effort, but sadly fall short in the laughter stakes.