Idiots of Ants: This Is War

If you’ve been paying attention to the torrent of print surrounding this year’s Festival, no doubt you’ll have come across the declaration that sketch comedy is back. Riding this wave at its crest, these four men have conquered Edinburgh three years running, wielding a boisterous exuberance that means their popularity is now matched only by the mighty Pappy’s Fun Club.

The whole thing is planned to perfection, and a fantastic false start gives way to inventive, playful skits on computer games, fatherhood and dating the entire audience. In a form so typically scrappy as this, few troupes would think to weave individual sketches together with the complexity seen here. The action is littered with carefully placed false blunders and references back to previous sketches, meaning that just as one begins to fade from the memory, another is always ready to remind you why you’ve spent the last 20 minutes laughing. As a result, the show works well as a whole, giving it a frantic fluidity that sketch comedy often lacks.

The Idiots are true professionals, ever ready to gloss over the slightest slip-up with breakneck reactions. Tonight, even when their projector suffers a catastrophic failure, they remain unfazed, never missing a beat. Yet with talent like this, it’s strange they even feel the need to include the often-precarious element of technology. It’s an ambitious attempt at spectacle that sometimes impedes the show, and when the remainder sees them sword-fighting, juggling and playing guitars, it’s obviously one they could do without. Their methods are masterful and their appeal simple – high-paced, high-energy fun.