Edinburgh Fringe: Late Night Gimp Fight – Pleasance Courtyard

Reviewer: Tracey Lowe

The Public Reviews Rating:

The name of this sketch troupe alone should be enough to bring audiences flocking, and having gathered a following over the last couple of years, they have bagged a late-night slot at one of the Fringe’s most popular venues.

Despite their subversive name, Late Night Gimp Fight are pretty tame. They cover familiar comedy ground such as making fun of paedophiles, distracting yourself from climax with thoughts of Anne Robinson and the sexual endeavours of perverted old ladies. Nothing too groundbreaking, but safe for a mainstream audience. Their most clever joke, involving kamikaze pilots, unfortunately went over the heads of the majority of the audience.

There were quite a few clever original songs in the show, but it seemed that some of the members were using the stage to showcase their vocal talents, rather than trying to make the audience laugh. There was also quite a lot of padding, including clips of movies and music videos, with ‘The Gimps’ slotted in at humorous moments. They didn’t draw a big laugh, and slowed down the pace of the show. It seemed that they were only on stage about 75% of the time. They also played for quite cheap laughs, with a well-timed swear word and full-frontal nudity.

The most promising ‘Gimp’ is definitely baby-faced Matt Ralph, who threw himself around as much as he contorted his rubbery face. He also shined in a particularly clever sketch based around Scooby Doo. The rest of the Gimps were unfortunately difficult to distinguish from one another, in both appearance and comedy prowess.

As far as sketch shows go, you could do a lot worse. However, if you’re looking for something a little more unique and alternative, Late Night Gimp Fight might not exactly knock you out.

Runs until 27th August

Edinburgh Fringe: Late Night Gimp Fight - Pleasance Courtyard, 3.5 out of 5 based on 4 ratings