Next Best Thing @ Pleasance Courtyard
An energetic and surreal life lesson from sketch duo Next Best Thing
Best friends Katie Davison and Jay Bennett are life experts and, by the end of the show, you will be too. The promise made at the outset of How to Be Good at Everything is a straightforward one, but the reality is a surreal sketch comedy in which the duo mix sharp observation with absurdist humour in a fast-paced and unpredictable hour.
The interaction between Davison and Bennett’s characters – the former highly strung and intense and the latter a more simple-minded and deadpan sidekick – is skilfully written and well-observed. References to being left out of ‘in-jokes’ and flashes of insight into the pair's backstory are particularly sharp and their natural chemistry is used effectively.
The performance is a confident one, which ensures that more absurd elements including mime and invisible props work successfully, with the audience happy to suspend reality for the duration of the hour. The show does at points rely on toilet humour, which can seem incongruous with the style of wit and writing elsewhere and serves little purpose to the wider narrative. Unfortunately, the moments of audience participation based around these themes falls flat as it becomes clear that many of the crowd are not comfortable with what is being asked of them. Davison and Bennett do pull off a difficult concept with confidence, however, resulting in a life lesson that is volatile and bold but engaging throughout.