‘Are You Having a Laugh?’ review
‘quite honestly, I haven’t been able to stop laughing since.’
The return of The Durham Revue intensified the electricity of the first post-exam Friday. This year’s performers took to the stage with their show ‘Are You Having a Laugh?’ before beginning their stint at Edinburgh Fringe in August. The assertive idiomatic title perfectly encapsulated what was to be an evening of assured, seamless comedy. Our captivating entertainers Jude Battersby, Sam Bentley, Alice Barr, Nat Pryke, Ollie Painter, Miranda Pharaoh, Bea Pescott-Khan, and Isaac Slater - notably Pescott-Khan and Slater as super slick hosts - permeated each sketch with the essence of this confronting, quintessentially British phrase with pitch-perfect delivery.
The foundations of the evening were skillfully set by the performances of The Durham Revue’s special guests - The Manchester Revue and The Liverpool Revue. Short but sweet, The Manchester Revue’s comical interpretations were imbued with references to the end of the world. Additionally, the two stand-up performances from Liverpool Revue can be summarised as intrusive thoughts repackaged into insightful commentary.
Before the highly anticipated Durham Revue sketches, Pescott-Khan and Slater returned with humorous Ts&Cs, reinforcing how well-thought-through the Revue’s performance was from start to finish. Both complemented each other, with Slater’s on-point delivery matching Pescott-Khan’s effortless engagement with the audience. I would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing both on stage more, given how quickly they built a remarkable tonal range into their roles. A true accomplishment.
The first entrance was Painter, alone with his guitar, serenading us with Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’. Accompanying Painter’s impressive musicality was his evident confidence - a core component of all of Painter’s performances across the evening. The hilarious realisation as he goes to sing “piano man” was punctuated when he dashed offstage, assisting the fluid transition to the first group sketch.
These transitions toyed with the levels of energy, something which The Durham Revue masterfully sustained throughout, especially in the reimagining of ‘The Winner Takes it All’. Battersby and Pharaoh’s performance would have given Meryl Streep and Piers Brosnan a run for their money with their convincing longing looks in the instrumentals. Once again, the abrupt ending at “I don’t wanna talk” showcased the writers’ impeccable attention to detail.
Whilst these succinct sketches illuminated the sharp wit of the writers, the longer sketches were consistently to the standard of British sitcom gold. Indeed, each sketch brought the embedded cultural gravitation towards the flawed, everyday eccentric to the fore - none more so than Bentley and Pharaoh’s painters and decorators sketch.
Here, Pharaoh’s frustrations with Bentley grew with his exaggerated mispronunciations of words like “therapeutic” and “television”. The naturalistic overlappings of their back-and-forth were a joy to watch, particularly the development of Pharaoh’s exasperation. At all points, you could observe her acting shift from one level to the next in real time, resulting in her owning the space yet enhancing the consummate realism of Bentley’s delivery. The climax of sheer frustration at Pharaoh’s pronunciation of “scone” expertly ties in British scone politics, rendering it one of the most satisfying conclusions of the sketches that night.
It would be remiss of me not to include Jude Battersby’s satirical representation of the insufferable East London creative in a poem about sandwiches. I should note that Battersby’s physical comedy cemented him as a standout, even in the scene changes. In this sketch, the richness of his voice flawlessly executed the accent and physicality he was trying to emulate.
Nat Pryke’s comedic delivery was sharpened by her unwavering ability to portray the most baffling workings of the human mind. She was utterly convincing in a confession sketch in which she relayed the oddest actions to Bentley, particularly regarding toes in jam. I can only describe Pryke as constantly on a roll, as she was dealt the most eccentric characters yet conjured riveting facial expressions for each, and shone in her portrayal of them. Once again, Bentley utilised his superb reactions and elevated the scene when he drew the line at her swearing.
There is a quality about Sam Bentley’s performances that constantly reminded me of British sitcom staples. His annoyance at Battersby’s hayfever resonated deeply in all us livid Brits, and their chemistry was immaculate. In fact, I would argue that Bentley’s portrayal of the everyday character is itself a thread of The Durham Revue’s idiomatic title.
Onto Barr, who injected energy into all her scenes - her confrontation with Pharaoh over infidelity coupled with her comedic timing as she U-turned at the end, rendering her a powerhouse all whilst having exceptional plaits.
The Durham Revue’s performance was nothing short of a success. A significant thank you must go to Battersby, Bentley, Pryke, and Pescott-Khan for making Durham laugh one last time before they graduate. They asked whether we were “having a laugh”... quite honestly, I haven’t been able to stop laughing since.
By Amaya Uppal.