3

	Fringe at Le Monde (venue website) Comedy 4 - 30 Aug, 3:00pm (4:00pm) Reviewed by Craig Thomson

The three performers of Fancy a Threesome? were, in their own ways and by their own admission, a shambles at the show I took in.  And yet, and yet... I saw them all earlier in the week at the venue launch for Fringe at Le Monde, and they were each a lot stronger and more confident then than on my return.

Part of that may be down to the setup of the venue, which they each complained about.  Fancy a Threesome? is essentially a trio of young-ish stand-ups, who each take to the stage for a 20 minute set to round out the hour.  At the venue launch, Luke McQueen acted as compère, while Jim Campbell and Pat Burtscher each performed a 10-minute routine, in front of a packed-out crowd.  During the full run, the number of seats available has been reduced considerably, so even for a sell-out show (which this was) the room seems cavernous and the atmosphere flat.

McQueen, up first, hardly helped matters with an ill-conceived entrée where he tried to persuade the whole audience to eat from the same Scotch egg.  Never mind that Scotch eggs are just about the most disgusting and inedible substance imaginable (and I say that as a Scot), his manner really distanced himself from the crowd.  When he moved on to his planned material – he claims the Scotch egg thing was a spur-of-the-moment decision, hopefully never to be repeated – he could barely get a reaction.  His stuff is good, and played well at our first encounter: he just didn't have it today.

Jim Campbell's set worked the best on the day, but he oddly seemed most concerned that it was falling to pieces.  My impression was of an affable, floppy-haired Essex boy who began with an entertaining rap battle with the discontented youth of his hometown, and did nothing more self-destructive than accidentally knock over his glass of water.  This confirmed my initial impression of Campbell, of a confident stand-up with a solid routine, and he was certainly the strongest of the three on the day... so it seemed odd that he flipped out in the way he did (again, blaming the venue).

Last up was Canadian comic Pat Burtscher, whose style is that of laconic disinterest.  He arrived late, midway through McQueen's set, and appeared on the stage to ramble incoherently for 15 of his planned 20 minutes.  After a cringingly awful verbal attack on a member of the audience that went on for far too long, he explained to us the theory of his babies.  His jokes are his babies, and he wants them to be born into a loving environment, rather than being pushed out, falling unloved and unwanted to the floor.  At last he went on to tell us some of his joke-babies, and it turned out they were great – they were technically good, in that they would be funny written down, but they also in the telling revealed something about the teller, which is all you can ask for of a competent stand-up.

That's the odd thing; I'm convinced that McQueen, Campbell and Burtscher are all competent stand-ups, or better, but they didn't display it on the day I was there.  And the review and rating system we use is predicated on principle of what you thought on the day you saw it.  I'm happy to offer in defence the evidence of the earlier launch event, where they were all fantastic, but all I can award them is three stars – which is not the type of threesome they were hoping for.  But I still want you to go see them; just say out loud to the performer, if a Scotch egg appears, that it really is not a good idea.