Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Low Down
Remember 1980 when the Fringe was, well, just a fringy thing featuring dingy venues whilst its big brother, the prestigious International Festival, hosted the big guns in the bright lights?
Sid and Larry, former partners in a double act, are in town, though they haven’t spoken since they clashed 5 years ago and parted acrimoniously. Meantime, Larry has acquired a promoter together with international stardom and its related trappings, arriving to play the International Festival to a sold out run in a venue seating thousands. Sid, however, is playing in a basement, edge of town venue to a handful of punters, his act built on stories about the days with his erstwhile friend and partner.
Review
Following the success of Cody and Beau, their Fringe debut spoof western production last year, Dylan and Will Theatre are back with something quite different in The Joker and The Thief and, judging by last night’s performance, this pair of writer/performers have produced another belter of a show.
It’s 1980 when the Fringe is, well, still a fringy thing, where alternative comedians experiment in dingy venues whilst the prestigious International Festival hosts the big guns in the bright lights.
Sid and Larry, former partners in a double act, are in town, though they haven’t spoken since they clashed 5 years ago and parted acrimoniously. Meantime, Larry has acquired a promoter, Howard, together with international stardom and its related trappings and arrives to play the International Festival to a sold out run in a venue seating thousands. Sid, however, is playing in a basement, edge of town venue to a handful of punters, his act built on stories about the days with his erstwhile friend and partner.
When Larry discovers he’s become part of Sid’s routine, he suggests meeting ahead of his opening night, allowing Sid to see how the other half lives, including Larry’s capacious dressing room with everything on tap, complete with the pensive, wound up Howard. But, as the minutes to Larry’s curtain up tick inexorably away, the circumstances that led to their cataclysmic bust up are revealed like the layers of a peeled onion, leaving the pair with no alternative than to face up to the real cause of their parting.
We open with Sid (the superbly convincing Will Grice) delivering his act in the dingy basement Fringe venue – the only place he can afford to hire these days – rattling off a series of pretty lame gags greeted with almost complete indifference by his audience (yep, that’s us playing our part to perfection). Thirty seconds in, and the wheels start to fall off the bus as a series of “technical difficulties” (principally some very creative lighting malfunctions), bring the show to a shuddering halt.
Cut immediately to the opulence of a major venue dressing room where Larry (played with the swagger of a star by Dylan Kaeuper) is being prepped for his opening night by his promoter Howard (the Machiavellian Rufus Goodman). But, whilst Larry is clearly the star in this partnership, it’s evident who’s pulling the strings.
These opening scenes set the standard for what was an hour of captivating theatre. All the key elements are present and correct including a tightly crafted script, exquisite characterisation (that was never in danger of slipping into caricature), crystal clear delivery, pace but enough space to allow the audience to assimilate the latest plot twist and staging that was as inventive as it was painstakingly crafted – every nook and cranny of theSpace Triplex thrust stage utilised to good effect.
Attention to detail is another hallmark; the 80’s style video player; the costuming; the set laid out as an opulent dressing room that, with an appropriate lighting refocus suddenly becomes dingy Fringy; the choreography deployed to keep the tension building when all three are on stage; an exquisitely crafted and delivered full on rolling fight on the carpet as tempers fray.
The way little hints and clues as to the cause of the split are scattered into conversations is engagingly redolent of Inside Number 9, Steve Pemberton and Reece Sheersmith’s epic series of darkly comedic tales. This helps pull the audience into the show as the actors drive to a denouement that threatens to bring Larry’s edifice crashing to earth, forcing him and Sid to make a choice that will determine the future course of their respective careers. It’s a neat conclusion to what is a stand out piece of theatre. I, for one, can’t wait to see what these supremely talented individuals come up with next. Highly recommended viewing.
