I actually managed to catch the work in progress version of this show at Vault Festival earlier this year, and even though i knew there would be a lot of similarities between the two performances I had seen enough to know that by the time the Fringe came round I would need another fix of these clowns.

The Pleasance Cabaret Bar is one of my favourite venues at the Fringe, it’s intimate, comfortable and allows a large enough crowd to really build an atmosphere. Whilst queuing before the show my pal confessed that since we had last seen them she had developed something of a crush on Flo (stage name, not grandma… Watch the show).

So when we found ourselves sat in the front row and immediately after the first song my friend was pointed at and asked “so, which one of us do you prefer so far?” we corpsed and Joan received the fastest response to that question in the history of the Fringe.

I think that the idea of the question is to make the audience member feel awkward about having to choose between two very talented clowns… Didn’t quite work this time!

I have never really thought of Flo & Joan as divisive but their initial welcome song did seem to alienate a couple of people in the audience – I’m hoping it was the dig at Daily Mail readers rather than the one at sex offenders that upset the guy sat next to me!

Watching Flo & Joan is pure comedy cabaret, they perform in an almost classic doll like manner at times and this really adds an extra level to the show. Their songs are clever, funny and expertly performed – ‘Carol the cracking cracker packer’ is almost an endurance event in itself and I still want their wedding song played at any nuptials I attend.

I was aware of some of the online abuse that they had received following their TV adverts but probably not the sheer magnitude. Their closing song really hit that home and there was real fire and justifiable anger in the delivery – it was brilliant!

These are two incredibly enjoyable clowns who are already hitting the high notes in musical comedy, some of the banter could be slicker – but the same was true of Tim Minchin during his early years. These are clowns on the rise and I for one am very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Clown Stars: * * * *

@Pleasance Cabaret Bar, Edinburgh

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