by Frankie Parham
How can blood on a wheelchair be funny? You only have to get down to the BT for this all too short comedy sketch show to find out. Newly written (with heavy whiffs of improvisation) by Joe Markham and Joe Parham, Humphrey’s Unpleasantness is all that outrageous comedy should be: full of lisping clergymen, masturbating accountants and paedophiles wearing reindeer antlers. Yet it’s not all just made to shock. Sterling character portrayals come from the very same writing talents: Joe Markham comically crumples his huge stature into the shapes of a little schoolboy and an old woman, while Joe Parham sports a highly impressive facial flexibility, contorting his mouth and wildly glancing in all directions.
As with all double acts, a useful third wheel appears in the form of Ross Young, but he is by no means side-lined. On the contrary, appearing in two solo scenes of his own, Young not only fuels his characters with amusing vigour, but manages not to corpse. This is more than can be said for either Joe, each visibly quivering with awkwardness as the lights come down and the audience’s laughter increases at the end of each sketch. As a result, the show feels like an ensemble piece, rather than a self-righteous opportunity on the part of the writers to show off their comedic skills. The number of scenes controlled by a single character is balanced between each of the performers, without any one of them standing out more than another (although Parham is somewhat dwarfed by Markham’s lofty figure).
By the end, all the actors (just) hold their own, and what results is a pandemonium of “Oh no they didn’t!” moments. A lot suffers to be ruined by revealing too much, but to get an idea of the boundaries these guys are willing to break, it’s worth knowing that the first sketch alludes to cannibalism and a nail fetish, both within a traditional all boy’s boarding school. Such an example colours what most of the scenes achieve: a hilariously clever balance between stereotype and filthy behaviour. You’ll leave feeling guilty that you ever laughed, but don’t take it as a reflection of your moral integrity: you’d have to be dead not to!
9:30pm, BT Studio: Run ends on Saturday 1st December
