We were back at Brighton Fringe, and things were going well… sort of. Yes, we were in one of our favourite beachside spots, Loading Bar, and yes, their ‘Assassin’s Mead’ cocktail was going down an absolute treat. BUT I was also getting routinely killed at Puzzle Bobble, a game which, until that point, I thought I was pretty decent at!

I was about to start up another humiliating round when I was thankfully saved by the bell – or rather, by one of our comedy pals pointing out we only had 15 minutes to get from the beach back up the hill for our next show. After more exercise than I’d anticipated for the day, we fell through the door of the Three Jolly Butchers pub with just minutes to spare. We were greeted by cheery bar staff, and a back wall decorated with enticing bottles of spirits and a solid collection of oversized Ninja Turtle figures… we were definitely in a Fringe venue.

We grabbed our drinks and wandered into ‘The Snug’, a delightful space at the back of the pub that had been turned into a cosy comedy area with fairy lights and an eclectic choice of seating. We slotted into a space to the rear and waited for the show to begin.

Despite our clowns’ shared show name, they are not exactly a double act. They do play off each other effectively, but for this show, they performed one after another, even flipping a coin to decide who would ‘kick off’ that day. Kim Hope called correctly, and we were off!

This show was an intriguing mixed bag. Both Kim and Kimberly are thoroughly likable clowns, bringing a lot of enthusiasm, charm, and energy to their performances. It’s just a shame that their material doesn’t always live up to their effort. There is gold in both performances (one metaphor about cutting a birthday cake with a chainsaw and a gag about model trains will live long in the memory), but the bulk of their sets are fairly standard takes on common insecurities and failed relationships, forcing our clowns to over-reach for laughs the material isn’t strong enough to generate.

Locked away within these familiar routines are intriguing stories that never fully take flight – we’d love to hear more on the root causes of the alcoholism, dramatic parenting and blingy Texan dreams that our clowns have contended with. All that being said, everyone I was with had a good time, and the hour flew by.

Clown Stars (-unrated-)

@The Snug (Three Jolly Butchers), Brighton

“Is That Not Normal?” will be playing at the Laughing Horse @ City Cafe during the Edinburgh Fringe. If you’d like to catch it, you can find all of the details here. This was actually one of the reasons we picked this show, in order to review/preview it—but midway through the show, it was mentioned that this was a WiP, so we have withheld our usual rating.