Girl and Dean

Have you been injured in a ninja related accident at work that wasn’t your fault? Did you know that Sean Bean is in fact King of The North? Were you aware that most of Britain’s tourist attractions are run by known terrorist groups?

With ideas like this, Girl and Dean ought to be most entertaining but unfortunately a dearth of laughs for the first few minutes means only the inventive knitwear of the performers sustains interest. The show does improve steadily but for two young women making their Edinburgh debut the material is of an unbelievably mixed standard; what might sound funny written down often fails to carry on stage.

To their credit Girl and Dean steer clear of the lowest common denominator: a sketch involving some upper class indie musicians rings true and it is hard not to smile at the thought of two young girls playing "Zimbabwean Farm" accidentally burning the guinea pig in an effort to oust white landowners from their Surrey garden.

The major problem is a feeling that the ideas and the performance don’t quite match up. It is a serviceable sketch show but requires patience and understanding to get past the opening five minutes rather than quietly slip out.