Beasts: Solo @ Pleasance Courtyard

Glitter, lace, and plenty of skin might sound like a night at the strippers rather than an afternoon at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but it’s an accurate description of the comedy show Solo by sketch group Beasts on 3 August. The trio attempt to go their separate ways, performing their own shows with hilariously disastrous consequences including James preforming magic, serious drama for Owen while Ciarán just wants to get his dance on. Two problems: they only have one venue and one hour.

More a variety show than sketch, most genres are covered from cabaret, magic, theatre to dance. The dance moves are especially impressive with a cross between dad dancing and ass shaking like only middle aged white men can do. The introduction has a nice snappy pace with the trio mixing things up to keep it interesting, but they start to lose momentum midway through, lacking the same pace of the first half. Some of the scenes start to overstay their welcome with the fleeting jokes getting most of the laughs. There are really only so many Nelson Mandela jokes that can be made in a one hour show.

This is the trio’s third time at the Edinburgh Festival with last year’s show selling out. There is an undeniable chemistry between the Englishman, Irishman and Welshman which sounds like the start of a bad joke, but works well with all three of them bickering and bouncing off each other over the course of an hour. It's a bit like being stuck in the back of your parents car on a long road trip with younger brothers.