BriTANicK is a two hander stand up comedy show by Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher They have an impressive history: Sold-out run: Edinburgh Fringe (2022-2023). Sold-out run: Soho Theatre (2022-2024) They return again this year with a new show.  They also have written for Saturday Night Live and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Interestingly they also post their sketches on the internet for free viewing.

The stage is simple black drapes with side entries. A couple of times they disappeared and ended up with the audience. Their sketches were sometime verging on overly long but the sold out venue audience didn’t seem to mind.

One series of jokes deserves repeating; a vitriolic tirage against critics and what they wanted to do with their body parts [No stars for that!] . Their Director is a 4 year old boy in a voice over who has positive advice at most turns.

To illustrate their skills at creating a theme which is used to effect was the suggestion that Nick was into puppet porn. This is used at various times during the show, culminating in Nick with puppet master’s controls making Brian move and gyrate as if on strings. It creates much laughter from the audience particularly when the strings become tangled and eventually cut. This zany sketch demonstrates the length and care the two comics put into their work and is well rewarded by the audience.

These are experienced comics who know their trade, the audience really enjoyed it and I suspect new visitors will do so as well. BriTANick Dummy are awarded four Fringe Festival Stars (FFS) from Theatrevibe the site that doesn’t do stars.