Poor Jason Derulo became one of the many subjects of popular culture to be picked apart last night by the comedy sketch group Care of Douglas. From Tesco Clubcards and facial cream sales-assistants to heroin-addicted Biology lecturers, not one all-too trivial aspect of our normal lives was deemed by the sketch-group as incapable of being made ridiculous. The final scene was a synthesis of all our favourite component parts, the team knew what we would like best and handed it all right back to us at the end. It was just that obvious what would be deemed funny, though I wonder if the group ever had a back-up plan for the final sketch if the audience had responded differently.

Emma Sidi seized the stage, her agility only rivalled by that of Jason Forbes’. Some of her most beautiful moments were when the energy in her limbs was held in one brilliant facial expression, however. Lacking all dignity at points, she showed all the hallmarks of a committed performer, and could command our attention whether she was jumping in front of us or not.  Pierre Novellie and Lowell Belfield had a more understated presence onstage, which was a vital contrast; Care of Douglas know that to truly win over the audience you must engage them in more ways than one. Ahir Shah displayed an impressive versatility, varying his expressiveness according to what the scene required of him. You could tell which mode he was in by how wide his eyes were open: if he was staring out at us, he expected us to be staring at him.    

All the boxes of a comedy sketch-show were ticked. The performance was smooth, longer sketches were appropriately broken up by shorter, snappier ones, and everybody seemed to laugh at everything. Every time a sketch ended, the team had banked more points and the less likely it became that the next one wouldn’t turn out better.

Some of the sketches, however, were a little too long. For instance, in one sketch the point where the end should have been was literally marked out by applause, an approval of the scene that seemed to be undermined by a character re-entering.  Yet, much like the girl in Jason Derulo’s video, I see no major flaw where someone may be more pedantic. 

The atmosphere in the theatre was lively; the nature of the comedy scene here is such that performers need not necessarily begin talking before the audience are on board.  George Potts certainly knew what everyone was finding funny and adapted well to it, there is nothing so rewarding in comedy as when the people onstage respond to the laughter and immediately reinforce it. If his face hadn’t slightly revealed this awareness, he could’ve pulled it off more seamlessly. Jason Forbes, equally, perhaps betrayed too much of his inner thought processes. He appeared in so many different forms throughout that it seemed a shame to have the illusion broken, and see what was underneath.

So it’s four-stars for Care of Douglas. Don’t just happen to see them in a Footlights Smoker. Like last year’s Good. Clean. Men.  this band of comics are much better in concentrated volumes.