Just in case the week five blues were still getting you down, and the glorious weather hadn’t brightened your spirits, Sunday saw the opening night of The Cambridge Comedy Festival. By opening I mean one night only, but who lets facts get in the way of a review?

Variety was welcome in the form of The Durham Revue, who at the very least had come a long way. It was a parody-heavy set, opening up with a corporate take on Snow White, at which point we were introduced to “Lanky”. Due to the extortionate cost of programs (read £3.50) his real name will remain a mystery, but lanky is an apt descriptor. Towering above his fellows in both stature and performance his expressive face helped tide them through some of the over-extended sketches. That’s not to say there weren’t moments of brilliance or contributions of note from the rest of the team. Originality was lacking a bit throughout but a John Coyle impression, the referee of Gladiators fame, scored highly. It would also be rude to move on without mentioning the joy of the drug dealing Mary Poppins singing “a spoon and a lighter helps the heroin go brown” in his/her dulcet tones.

The Oxford Revue had us in hysterics with a haggard Neanderthal creeping onto stage informing us the year was 10000BC, swiftly followed by a screen flash of “12012 years later.” Next was an inspired sketch on that awkward morning-after conversation, on this occasion between a dictionary and a thesaurus. Needless to say, it was more eloquent than any you’ve had. It was a clever and original set, though some of the sketches saw me amused and bewildered in equal measure. A tight performance with some excellent contributions from all members of the cast, and a few punch lines going awry didn’t detract from its overall entertainment value.

Phil Wang began proceedings for the Footlights with some stand-up about the challenges of wearing glasses, and it wouldn’t have been Phil without some ethnic banter thrown in too. The sketch show proper consisted of our favourites from this term, kicking off with the Google sketch that attendees of G.G.T.H will be familiar with. Having already seen most of the material (my theatre attendance this term has been impressive) if anything added to my excitement at what was to come, and it’s safe to say that the audience enjoyed it in all the glory of its virgin brilliance. Special mention goes to Harry Michell for a brilliantly executed and inventive monologue. Overall it was an incredibly impressive collection of comedy with several moments of genius, and it should be of no embarrassment to the visiting Revues that they were truly outperformed by the home team on this occasion.

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