The Footlights Smoker holds a unique position in the Cambridge comedy scene, in that it is one of the few shows to sell out days in advance. Every two weeks, students and locals flock to the ADC to see what’s new chez Footlights. The novelty is of course twofold: the Smokers act as a testing ground both for the committee, who can try out new material, and the lay comics, many of whom will be new to comedy altogether. Despite the inevitably chock-a-block auditorium, then, Smokers are always a bit of a gamble, and this one didn’t pay off so spectacularly.

Footlights Smokers are usually presented as a variety show, a comic hotchpotch of everything from ten-second micro-sketches to standup to longer set-piece sketches. However, the balance between these tended to favour the short sketch, making the whole thing feel quite disjointed. Not only this, but many of these sketches didn’t pack a big enough punch to feel like they had earned their place: sketches such as ‘Chekhov on Ice’ clearly had potential, but were left swimming in a sea of middle-of-the-road humour, eliciting the odd nervous giggle but no belly laughter, and feeling a bit like filler.

Occasionally, sketches that felt they were building up to a brilliant punchline were deflated with a weird one, or even worse were forgotten entirely. Others, such as Harry Michell, Alex MacKeith and Jack Gamble’s pastiche of the ‘Three Wise Men’, were underpinned by good concepts, but dragged on. These were, however, punctuated by flashes of the Footlights’ characteristic sharp wit and invention, particularly Michell’s starring role in the ‘Reverse Restaurant’ sketch, and Emma Sidi as a cannibalistic Latina woman.

The snatches of standup that broke up the sketches were a mixed bag - first there was Milo Edwards, who worked wonders turning a sardonic eye on everyday sayings. Occasionally his call-backs were strained, or his punchlines narrowly missed the mark, though generally his conversational, cantankerous comedy was a treat for the audience. Then there was Andrew (forgive the lack of surname), who, one felt, had been somewhat hung out to dry by the committee: clearly new to standup comedy, his insinuation of having killed his pet guinea pig was painfully obvious, and met with an audible whimper from the crowd. His inexperience would have been passable and even endearing at a smaller Smoker, but this audience had higher hopes, and were not impressed.

It’s hard to generalise about Smokers, as by definition they lack unity. However, I felt that this one also lacked consistency, such as an audience would naturally expect from a troupe as distinguished as the Footlights. Let’s hope they come up with the goods next time.