Sammy J: 1999

After storming last year's Fringe 2008 with smutty puppet show Forest of Dreams, Sammy J returns with another musical comedy of a more autobiographical nature. It’s the year 1999 and Sammy J is a 15-year-old high school nerd with a penchant for Disney and a serious lack of street cred. A wittily observed Adrian Mole for the Backstreet Boys generation, he worries about inappropriate erections and the logistics of foreplay while eagerly awaiting the opening of Toy Story 2.

The pre-millennium context yields plenty of opportunities for ironic reminiscences of a time when Britney was still a virgin, Google was a little-known search engine, and the internet existed at the end of a phoneline. These references are ingeniously woven into the fabric of young Sammy’s life, from the poster adorning his wall to his prized Tamagotchi. The musical is peppered with brilliantly written songs that the comic performs with gusto. These numbers are fully integrated into the plot, with witty lyrics that expand upon preceding jokes: a song entitled ‘Please Don’t Get a Boner’ that narrates Speedo-clad Sammy’s humiliation in a swimming lesson is particularly hilarious.

A soundtrack featuring classic 90s popstars underscores the context, along with an inspired collection of time-specific sound effects that add to the nostalgic humour. The gentle pace of this artfully constructed trip down memory lane makes 1999 frequently amusing rather than downright hilarious, but its time-specific jokes will particularly resonate with those who once thought curtains were an acceptable hairstyle.