Tommy and the Weeks: Wonderbang!

'If I Were In Charge of Reality', the title of the closing song for this surreal sketch show, sums up its whimsical but anarchic intent. It’s Tom Bell and Ed Weeks’ third year on the Fringe, and their act has gelled into a confident and mature example of the kind of joyous, silly style that’s so popular here. It’s nothing too remarkable in content, but it is deftly performed and a lot of fun.

The pair make good use of their physical differences, Weeks’ burly masculinity and enormous face being set against Bell’s fey and waif-like presence. They caricature the latter relentlessly, variously calling him a "rejected Dickens character" and a "drowned Elizabethan", whilst acknowledging that he is the brains behind the operation. “I wrote it,” Tommy tetchily announces at one point. “Yes, and my dad paid for it,” replies Weeks.

The soundsystem is creatively employed, with pre-recorded gags and punchlines layered over the live material and one sketch involving the boys chasing a rogue ‘laughter track’ from the room. They still have a bit of editing work to do to improve on this early performance, with some sketches—including one where a shepherd tries to recreate the ambience of a nightclub on a desolate hillside—significantly outstaying their welcome. There’s also a bit of a lazy over-reliance on the uncomfortable giggles the two men can get by hinting at a homoerotic attraction between them. But on the whole, the show is a banker for a good few solid and distinctly Fringey laughs.