4

	Pleasance Courtyard (venue website) Childrens 3-8 Aug, 11:30am-12:30pm; 9-13, 15-21 Aug, 11:30am-12:15pm Reviewed by Rachel Hartley-Davison
Parental Guidance. Parents or guardians should consider the content of this show if children are attending.

If you don’t know what ROFLSHIPMP stands for, get along to The List Operators for Kids – back with a raucously entertaining pun-tastic new show this Fringe – and you soon will.  The award winning duo wowed audiences of all ages with their 2010 kids' show, and they are set to do the same this time round as well.

With a perfectly pitched brand of comedy for six to twelve year olds – namely slapstick with plenty of added rude bits – the List Operators (or should that be “Opoorators”) roll out the groansome puns thick and fast. But the show’s appeal is not simply limited to the kids; the adults (or “old people”) in the audience will find plenty of laughs, despite occasionally being the butt (sorry!) of the joke.

With a giant computer as a central prop, the Operators navigate the stage with visual cues such as giant cursor buttons. They begin by illustrating a list of facts about computers – which came from space, don’t you know? – from “nanna technology”, with Matt dressed as a granny, to the prevalence of “prawn” on the internet.  Cue pink bra and lobster props and outrageously funny dance moves.

Next up are a series of sketches based on puns of popular computer games. There is some giant computer game action (Pong) on stage, pitting the kids against the adults with predictably silly results. Then, the audience get to choose the fate of the Operators in World of Woolcraft, which culminates in a clever ending involving surprise audience props. They even manage to cram some timely Edinburgh tram jokes in there.

The show moves at an energetic pace (like most six to twelve year olds, really) and is highly original. The children around me were in cackles for the duration, and there was genuinely never a dull moment.  Was I “Rolling On the Floor Laughing So Hard I Peed My Pants?”  Close!  The duo are very talented and, most importantly, tuned to their young audience. Expect to leave the theatre with thoroughly delighted kids and older people.