Review: Jigsaw: Getting Jiggy – Pleasance Upstairs, Edinburgh.
Jigsaw
Sketch troupe Jigsaw offer three stand ups, all with a decent Fringe reputation, for the price of one: Dan Antopolski, Nat Luurtsema and Tom Craine shaping the line-up. It’s a bit of a bargain, really, as they’re clearly a class act.
But in Getting Jiggy, there’s a slight imbalance to the show.
Hairy, towering Antopolski dominates the Jigsaw landscape, scampering around the stage like a wild-eyed, homeless Alan Davies. His physical presence is put to good use, though: it seems unlikely any other man could portray a sexually predatory version of Santa (or the Tooth Fairy, or the ‘St Patrick’s Day Snail’) so effectively.
Luurtsema, however, is terribly underused. My only real gripe with Jigsaw is that so many of the gags centre on sexually creepy – or at the very least slightly odd – situations, with the only woman in the show the victim of various advances. So much so that – like last year’s offering – Luurtsema seems to spend most of her time lying down on stage, absent from the action.
Having said that, there’s no denying that Jigsaw get the laughs for their more explicit stuff, and their running gag about the ‘bloke who’s trying to have IVF’ is an absolute treat. In fact, the general structure of the show is sound. All three are comfortable in their ever changing surroundings, and manage to flick through scenes with ease: from the terrorist who just wanted some Skittles to the London gang member teenagers at the bus stop, and on to the unforgettable Funk Psychotherapist. As in any sketch show there were some lulls; the sex addiction sketch being a case in point. But you can surely forgive a show that includes acute turns of phrase like: “This nightie is more intrusive than the Google Maps street view car.”
Such is the nature of these early performances in Edinburgh that a few things go wrong during the show, though the every professional Jigsaw simply improvise around the mistakes. In fact, these workarounds actually enhance the overall experience, and make the audience feel like they’re seeing something unique from this talented trio. And really, they are.
Date of live review: Friday 3rd August 2012.
