The Beta Males' Picnic

Three Weeks Review – Edinburgh 2010

adam — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:40:51 +0000

The Beta Males’ Picnic Presents

Here is the cream: a free fringe show that is absolutely hilarious and charming. And free. Free! ‘The Beta Males’ Picnic Presents’ comprised of a selection of manic, supremely silly sketches smacking of lashings of Blackaddery/Spike Milligany lunacy. Gleefully mad lines flew thick and fast: “Have you ever seen a naked man do star jumps in zero gravity? They call me the nightmare angel!”, plus the group exhibited ease and charisma on stage. The show also featured a special guest appearance by Jay Foreman, whose witty songs on myriad topics from ‘The Sooty Show’ to the joys of stealing food (he’s a veritable gastronomic kleptomaniac!) almost threatened to upstage this already sterling show. Oh-so-heartily recommended.

Laughing Horse@City Café, 15 – 29 Aug, 12.00pm , free, fpp 34

tw rating: 5/5

Katie Conaglen

Edinburgh 2010

adam — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:46:42 +0000

The Beta Males’ Picnic in “The Bunker”

At 11.35PM in the Delhi Belly at The Underbelly 7-29th August (Previews 5/6th)

Tickets: Previews: £6, Normal: £9-£10.50, Concessions: £8-£9.50

The Beta Males’ Picnic present a new, entirely post-apocalyptic sketch comedy. Venture into the bowels of the Underbelly and take your place in The Bunker; Humanity’s last refuge after an unspecified Cataclysm wipes the planet clean of life.

Plunge into a terrifyingly mutated Future; chock full of mystery, mad scientists, dystopian dictatorships and half-melted movie stars. Who will survive armageddon? Who is the mysterious Mr. Corfax? Just what is Sexy Christmas?

Hilarity – but mostly Doom – ensues as four men from Today sketch the world of Tomorrow, the last 273 humans alive and the last punchlines they’ll ever share…

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**** “Brilliant”- The List

**** “Fizzing with energy and a manic inventiveness” – ThreeWeeks

“fun, funny, accessibly clever humour performed with assurance and likeability…I really can’t imagine who would not enjoy it.” – Kate Copstick, The Scotsman

- – -

The Beta Malesʼ Picnic is that young, well-turned-out sketch troupe that your mum wants to invite in and make tea for. The group is comprised of writer-performers Adam Blampied, John Henry Falle, Jonathan Gracey, Richard Soames and director, Robert Pirouet. Specialising in sketches about tears before bedtime and the quirks of male-pattern bonding, they are also – unsurprisingly – massive geeks, and this new, sci-fi tinged sketch show is a testament to youth spent digesting comics, cartoons and old BBC serials.

Christmas Charity Show 2009 – Jersey Evening Post Review

Rob — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:30:17 +0000

Click on the image for a closer look.

The List Review – Edinburgh 2009

Rob — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:03:11 +0000

In a festival where Ricky Gervais can charge whatever he wants for a show in the Playhouse and sell out comfortably, as well as expecting to pay £10 for a half-decent comedian nobody’s heard of, it’s nice to see the free alternatives still going strong.

A main part of that strength would be the brilliant Beta Males’ Picnic whose silly but smart sketch show manages to be just as clever and quipful as Idiots of Ants or Pappy’s Fun Club. Looking the part in waistcoats too, and with a matching air of grinning eccentricity, few free acts are so charming and so prepared.

* * * * - THOMAS MEEK

Three Weeks Review – Edinburgh 2009

Rob — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:01:53 +0000

Fizzing with energy and a manic inventiveness, ‘The Beta Males Picnic’ is a delightfully daft way to get your lunchtime fix of comedy. This comedy quartet play off the crowd and each other with natural ease, attacking the well-constructed sketches with a fearless confidence and great comic timing. Their surreal brand of slapstick has been practised and polished until it shines, and their use of recurring sketches, especially the gloriously funny moon-landing ones, and a short comic play at the end gives the show a sense of structure that it might otherwise lack. Fresh, fun, and free to see, there’s really no reason not to go and enjoy ‘The Beta Males Picnic’.

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 6 – 30 Aug, 1.00pm, free, fpp 30

tw rating: 4/5 published: Aug-2009

[Tim Leach]

The Scotsman Review – Edinburgh 2009

Rob — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:00:12 +0000

Published Date: 10 August 2009

By KATE COPSTICK

***

LAUGHING HORSE @ THE COUNTING HOUSE (VENUE 170)

THESE guys, as we are told at the start of the show, “have fragile egos”. Luckily for us, they have robust talent. This is a show I’d like to call “jolly” but, being aware that it might not look great on a poster, will describe it as fun, funny, accessibly clever humour performed with assurance and likeability.

I really can’t imagine who would not enjoy it. There’s Shakespeare, James Bond, several cops and men in white coats. Adam, Jon, Tom and John Henry have created the funniest joke involving pipes I have yet seen, and a series of sketches involving the first Moon landing which are, on their own, a good enough reason for spending your lunchtime here. The performers are three charming Beta Males who have had the good sense to bring along a Jack Black lookalike for added comic effect. If you are after decent sketch comedy then kicking off your day with this would be the way to go.