Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Married Without Children
Erin Island and Andrew McCammon
Genre: Comedy, Improvised Theatre, Sketch Comedy
Venue: C Arts
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Erin Island and Andrew McCammon a real-life married couple who celebrate the fact that they don’t have kids, using sketch comedy and audience participation. They are funny to the core.
Review
Erin Island and Andrew McCammon a real-life married couple who celebrate the fact that they don’t have kids. They are funny to the core. Their Musical Director, Jules Dekker, punctuates the show with mood-setting music and sound effects on piano.
Island and McCammon have been together performing sketch comedy, video shorts, and gameshows worldwide for nearly 15 years. They bring their quick wit, strong rapport with audiences and sharp improv to a show where the stars clearly do not want to add kids to their lives. These two are challenging the status quo of what it means to be a married couple…without children…who love to live life to the fullest.
They are not alone. From the Atlantic: “The Birth-Rate Crisis Isn’t as Bad as You’ve Heard—It’s Worse”. Humanity is set to start shrinking several decades ahead of schedule. Research from Statistics Canada shows that, in 2022, 38 per cent of young adults ages 20 to 29 didn’t think they could afford to have a child in the next three years; 32 per cent did not believe they would have access to suitable housing to start a family in that time frame his translated into Canadians having fewer babies than any other year since 2005.
The pair describe themselves as “unhinged”. I think “clever” is a more fitting label. There are rehearsed sketches in the show that include a groom waiting for his bride-to-be at the altar, an announcement of a pregnancy, and several fake (and funny) sex scenes (clothes on).
The brilliance comes from the ability of the two talented comics to take suggestions from the audience and turn them into hilarious routines. They bring an audience member on stage to describe their “perfect date” – with many variations on what could be construed as “perfect”. The pacing is fast, quickly moving between ideas and sketches, each one unique and as hilarious as the one before. It is improv at its best, clever and quickly reactive.
Island and McCammon have performed together at The Second City (Chicago), iO (Chicago), Boom Chicago (Amsterdam), and on the Norwegian Cruise Line. Island was an artistic associate at The B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California. She is a teacher at The Second City Training Center and an improv teacher/workshop facilitator for 80 Days Creative. McCammon He has performed as an understudy on the mainstage, theatre, and Touring Company for The Second City Chicago. He is a member of the improv and writing faculties and a director for the Conservatory Program at The Second City Training Center. Jules Dekker is a Dutch musician who studied music in France as well as at the Summer Performance Program at Berklee College of Music and The Abbey Road Institute. Together they make a fantastic team with great chemistry.
The show is just 45 minutes but, with the continuous stream of funny bits, it could easily keep the audience well entertained for an hour.
This is their Edinburgh Fringe debut. Recommended for 18+
