Sheila’s Sister & Her Musical Cousins – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

Improvised comedy isn’t easy when there’s a small audience. The form relies on audience participation. This team of three musicians and two actors, hailing from Chicago, kept the tempo up with a small gaggle of theatre goers.

The married duo, Dana Allande O’Brien and Edmund O’Brien, last performed at the Gilded Balloon in 1995 to great acclaim. In between, they’ve been busy raising children, writing comedy games and scripts for TV. Suddenly, it’s 2023 and they’ve only just got back to The Toun.

I enjoyed the flip piece. It was clever. And their opening piece was very entertaining. Of course, being impro, you probably won’t see those little gems when you come another day, but, no doubt, there’ll be other jewels to behold. 

Their publicity says it is suitable for 14+ but I would say it’s grand for 11-year-olds and over. Indeed, one boy (definitely not fourteen) was called on stage to choose instruments. You could see the delight on his face. As ever, the cast check out the audience and adapt their material to suit. When you’ve been doing this for 35 years, reading the audience is second nature.

It’s clean humour. Or at least it was this lunchtime. It was also very American humour. Some will love that aspect. That’s why you visit the Fringe, after all, to see creatives from all corners of the world with their own particular take on humour, pathos and world views.

Reviewer: Kathleen Mansfield

Reviewed: 10th August 2023

North West End UK Rating: