Revue Review

Last year was one of the Revue’s most successful in their  entire history. Several Assembly Rooms shows were packed beyond seating capacity, their show at The Fringe was award-winning, and they were six of the most quoted people at house parties the length and breadth of Durham. So the pressure was really on this year for a group which, bar Matt Mulligan, consisted entirely of newcomers.
Except for the conviction that I would marry at least one of the members, I feel about this year’s Revue pretty much the way I felt about Take That back in the day  – they all bring their own very unique style of comedy to the table. Harry Bresslaw, Ned French and Andrew Chambers Barrett’s opposing, but equally entertaining, caricatured takes on the British gent worked in terrific unison, whilst Ben Whittle’s role in the group as the king of self-deprecating irony is something that I haven’t seen performed in quite the same way, and it was in this capacity that he truly shone. Alina Gregory has a natural, understated stage that lead to her providing some of the funniest moments. Meanwhile Matt Mulligan, the comedy veteran, was on fine form as usual in his role as expounder of whimsical awkwardness.
That said, the sketch which had myself and most other audiences members chuckling away most heartily was the astronaut sketch, in which Tessa Coates played a childish astronaut who had unwittingly secured the deaths of her co-pilots by exchanging the air cylinders on board for bags of Doritos prior to take-off. Her timing was exquisite, and her lines executed with extreme confidence which bodes well for her Durham comedic career. ‘Revue humour’ often sets a precedent for what becomes  ‘Durham humour’, so expect a few Tessa Coates-esque seems-ditsy-but-is-actually-arrestingly-witty jokes to be overheard somewhere near you in the future.
It took some time for me to accustom myself to their new group dynamic, something which I think that they are yet to entirely solidify, but if they continue to acknowledge and hone their respective strengths, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine these guys giving their predecessors a serious run for their money.
The Revue continue to be the unexpected highlight of many a uni ball and college day, winning over audiences with their perfect blend of fast-paced entertainment and superb comic timing. They can next be seen performing alongside The Oxford Revue and Cambridge Footlights on March 1st at Comedyfest. This Gala-based event has never failed to be one of the highlights of Durham’s theatre calendar, and I have no doubts at all that this year’s extravaganza will be little exception.