In this year’s concoction, The Tealights have brewed up another fast paced set of sketches. The five funnymen mix both intelligent and more silly material, tickling the audience with a well-studied wit.
These are five talented guys having a good laugh and taking the audience with them for the ride.
Whilst at first I was a little dubious about their jokes seeming confined to a narrow student audience, they opened out a wider appeal as the show progressed. Drawing upon some of the truths of today’s generation concerning such subjects as technology and app-based culture, they also poke fun at more conventional comedic topics such as the class system in a light-hearted and relatable way. With the odd nonsensical sketch thrown in and a few unexpectedly elaborate but entertaining transitions from scene to scene, the audience are kept on their toes. In particular I enjoyed the sketch on election of a class president and the special appearance of Pippin the Dog and Aunty Mabel, familiar to a lot of the audience from childhood. These guys don’t take themselves too seriously and their modesty makes them even more likable both individually and as a group: They poke fun at each other openly within the sketches and this makes them far more believable as a team. All this, along with a little awkward but entertaining audience participation adds up to a well-rounded show that garnered impressive applause.
Because the boys are confined to quite a small stage the use of more elaborate movement or choreography in both sketches and transitions is made difficult, and as a result some of the sketches using bigger props or movement were not as effective or understandable as intended. Some of the props indeed seemed unnecessary and distracted from the quality of the sketches, such as the long red ribbons repeatedly featured; whilst their use at the end of the show in a prison escape made sense, the group’s use of these same ribbons throughout earlier sketches seemed to serve no purpose. Overall, however, their use of a good blend of puns and punch lines meant I walked away feeling like I had just met a group of cool and funny people for a fun evening. These are five talented guys having a good laugh and taking the audience with them for the ride.
