What's so funny? Trodd en Bratt (that's en as in salmon en croute) is a new double act formed of two cast-members of the improvised hit, Showstoppers, whose show Well Done You is taking place at the Free Festival.
Is this one improvised? I suspect there's a bit of improv going on - partly because it feels loose and fresh on stage, and they're making one another laugh; partly because several of the sketches ramble on to little discernible purpose.
Let's focus on the positives. Of which there are many. The duo – Lucy Trodd and Ruth Bratt – are a delight to watch: totally at ease while sparring with one another entertainingly. The running joke is that Bratt is a sketch and standup veteran, whereas Trodd is a serious actor and comedy neophyte.
So that's their dynamic? Not quite. In fact, Trodd is the clown – a big, dopey goon reminiscent of Miranda Hart, performing impressions of vegetables and, in the first sketch, playing an idiot daughter from the deep south come to Scotland to search for a husband.
Sounds a bit icky. Yup. But Trodd and Bratt are charming enough to (just about) carry it off. It'd be hard to take offence at performances so extravagantly silly. Whether they're playing Cockney geezers, rivals in the church choir or Lana and Betty, two flappers turned lighthouse keepers who talk like Katharine Hepburn, the laughs come less from writing or acuity of characterisation, more from the pair's flamboyant tomfoolery.
File under: Daft. There are exceptions, though, including a diversion into (very capable) soul singing that upends our expectations deliciously.
Is there anything they can't do? Their script needs tightening up; it all feels quite casually thrown together. But the duo's playful relationship, and their abundant sense of fun, marks Trodd en Bratt out as very promising indeed.
