Six feisty ladies in green dresses sketch out their thoughts on life, love and LARP. This troupe from Manchester sewed some seeds at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and have been busy touring since.
Review
Lady Garden are a sketch troupe of six who met at the University of Manchester, and who first brought s show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008. They were Hackney Empire New Act Finalists this year and this show represents a raft of new sketch material.
This is gentle humour which comes in at about the level of polite rudeness which the title might lead you to expect. It’s like basking in the sunshine with a bottle of rosé. I smiled a lot and laughed out loud a fair bit too.
I suppose most of the material isn’t that original, with topics including air safety procedures, police interrogation, charity appeals and self improvement tips but they have their own angles on each of these.
I particularly liked the blokey one. That’s a sketch, not a reference to one of the performers! The premise of it was “what if” girls behaved liked blokes on a night out, revelling in practical jokes such as pissing in each other’s beer, while their conversation entirely revolved around sexual vulgarity.
Other highlights were the pole dancing skit (which, without giving too much away, was not what you might expect) and “Britain’s Next Top Monarch”, where what’s at stake is more than just eviction from a TV show. There was also a LARP (live action role play) sketch which I found quite amusing.
Overall the show is polished and professional, benefiting from well-observed characters and good teamwork. It may not be to everyone’s taste but if you have a penchant for female sketch comedy, give it a try. Personally, I really enjoyed it (but then I like rosé).
