Sheeps – Dancing with Lisa: Fringe Review

A Livestock of Ideas

4/5

One of the most original and refreshing sketch acts to emerge in years, Sheeps have helped to reinvent sketch comedy. Following their highly successful debut show last year, the recent Footlights graduates combine expertly crafted writing with captivating performances to produce something very different.

This year’s show contains more of an overarching narrative that focuses on the trio attempting to solve a riddle that came to Daran Johnson in a dream, the existence of which is their justification for putting on a show in Edinburgh in the first place. Interspersed with various skits and sketches, their imaginative plots and unconventional ideas are truly impressive.

Although not every sketch is hilarious, their originality is held throughout. Preconceived notions of the structure of a sketch are completely thrown out the window, as moments of the show do away with any form of linear plot. A scene involving Liam Williams being mistaken for a member of the audience by the other two is well realised, as is a sketch involving Johnson performing the second half of a sketch first, which only makes sense when he repeats the lines when they get to the second half and they match up with Liam and Alastair’s retorts that doing the second half of a sketch first makes no sense.

Sheeps are definitely onto a winner with their carefully thought out writing. Though many of the sketches induce a smile rather than a laugh, their originality is sufficient to place them amongst the best of sketch comedy.

Taken from Broadway Baby, published Aug 2012.