Brighton Fringe 2026
Police Cops
Police Cops
Genre: Comedy, Physical Comedy, Satire
Venue: Spiegeltent at SpiegelGardens
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
The internationally acclaimed ‘Police Cops’ celebrates its tenth anniversary at the Brighton Fringe this year, as the three original co-creators bring their unique blend of hilarity and camaraderie back to sellout performances at the Spiegeltent. Following the madcap adventures of a rookie cop, his partner and their fiendish Police Chief (among a host of crazy characters), the show is an ingenious parody of eighties-era blockbuster TV shows, taking the audience on a rollercoaster ride from the mean streets of America to the mean streets of Mexico. Expect clever choreography, evocative pop anthems, utterly ridiculous props and the occasional cheeky flash of a cheeky bum cheek in this riproaring hit comedy show.
Review
What could be more satisfying than waiting for the (metaphorical) curtain to go up on a true classic Fringe favourite! The multi-award-winning show, Police Cops, first exploded onto the London stage in 2014 to huge international acclaim – and has just successfully celebrated its tenth anniversary with ‘Totally Sold Out!’ shows at the WunderBarn .
A fast-paced and gleefully ridiculous musical comedy, Police Cops manages to cram every hallmark of iconic eighties American cop shows into a tightly packed one hour show. Slickly choreographed and minimally staged (the opening set comprised just two red chairs), the famous iconic backdrops of glam Miami Vice boulevards and seedy back streets of Hill Street Blues, were niftily reimagined with an ingenious use of (very silly) props. And it is a highly original, shirt ripping, muscle flexing, siren wailing, synth pumping, slo-mo action, hilarious thrill of a ride.
The co-creators also happen to be its original cast of three. Talented all-rounders, Nathan Parkinson, Tom Roe and Zachary Hunt, first developed the show together at drama school and “somehow it snowballed into a global cult hit.” The sheer exuberance and genuine camaraderie of the cast instantly captured everyone’s hearts – and the ironic shirt popping, bare bottom flashing and cheeky smiles were a winning combination for the right crowd. Which we very much were! (And also, sorry, but SOMEONE’s gotta say it, all three happen to be pretty easy on the eye.)
The rollercoaster plot takes us from the mean streets of America to the mean streets of Mexico, and follows the adventures of rookie Police Cop, Jimmy Johnson (aka Hunt), on his quest to become “the best police cop ever!” Partnering up with renegade Cop Harrison (aka Parkinson), and under the watchful eye of slippery Chief Malloy (aka Roe), the cast also play a myriad of other characters throughout – brought to life by ‘strap-on finger guns’ and an impressively quickfire change of hats, wigs and costumes.
If the plot was sometimes a little too frenetic to follow, it didn’t matter. The narrative continues to hurtle cheerfully full steam ahead, providing a belly laugh around every thirty seconds, and taking no prisoners with it along the way. Amid all the cleverly orchestrated mayhem, comic contrivances such as veering off-script to discuss the best way to make an omelette, and cracking up at their own ‘bloopers’, were endearing and contagiously funny – even in knowing these guys had thousands of clever performances safely tucked under their holster belts.
The era-encapsulating satire hit the spot on so many levels, especially for those with fond memories of eighties TV blockbusters. An evocative soundtrack of pop and rock anthems by INXS, Bryan Adams, Jan Hammer et al helped bring this innovative and magical formula home – and the cherry on top was that the cast seemed to be having just as rip-roaring a time as the audience did. This is one show that would be watchable time and time again!
