‘IT Consultants’ Lloyd Henning and Peter Sutton, better known as Foxdog Studios, have, in true IT style ‘turned it off and on again’ on one of their popular shows, Robo Bingo, rebooted as 2.0 with new wi-fi, new games and a whole lot of new coding headaches to keep both our dynamic duo and audience on their virtual toes.
Mixing Flight of the Conchords musical jamming with the social awkwardness of The IT Crowd, Foxdog invite the audience to play along not only in games of bingo but also classic childhood games of Snap, Guess Who and Spot the Difference albeit constantly interrupted with a variety of pop-ups and other technological interludes.
Henning and Sutton are a charming and witty duo, with quips and quick thinking as they navigate the chaos, bringing gales of laughter from their players and the games are reasonably well designed with lots of nostalgia. The audience interaction is comfortably managed through the use of cute self-designed avatars (although some cheekier members of the audience do take this to a devilish extreme with some NSFW creations).
This preview ahead of its run in Edinburgh and therefore brings the scrappiness that comes with a show at this stage of its development. Coding elements glitch frequently; the audience has to get to grips with the simple yet unruly controls for their avatars; anarchy reigns when they choose not to comply with the duo’s instructions, instead murdering innocent frogs, pushing each other’s avatars off tables and with erroneous claims of ‘Bingo’ at hysterically inappropriate moments.
Sometimes this can kill the pace of proceedings but both hosts usually manage to pull things back just as the audience starts to shift awkwardly in their seats with just the right level of deadpan humour.
And whilst there are still bugs in the system, Robo Bingo 2.0 is well on its way to becoming a Fringe favourite. Just don’t forget your sense of fun – or a phone charger.
For more Fringe Shows, visit https://greatermanchesterfringe.co.uk/events/
Reviewer: Lou Steggals
Reviewed: 25th July 2025
North West End UK Rating: