Laugh, Why Don’t You was, from start to finish, an impressively strong sketch show. Its greatest strength was the parity of both talent and participation between its five comedians: Louisa Keight, Millie Foy, Molly Stacey, Alex Harris and Sam Lamont. This show had none of the discomfort that is sometimes present in small group performances, when there is a noticeable imbalance of ability, inevitably leading to one or two people performing more than the rest. Instead, each of the cast of Laugh, Why Don’t You demonstrated their equal comic talents throughout the hour-long show, leaving me unable to decide who, or what sketch, was funniest. 

"An impressively strong sketch show"

The show, after some strange and entertaining microphone musings by director Will Dalrymple, opened with a parody of Billy Eliot quickly establishing the writing talents of Lamont, Keight and Foy. This sketch was also the first example of an hour of varied and entertaining accents performed by the whole cast, without simply relying on funny voices to carry the show. 

Some other particularly memorable sketches included a convention for people with chronically sweaty hands, a business meeting discussing how to make television 5D and a Dungeons and Dragons roleplay with an especially strong performance by Foy as Gravlax. What was most refreshing about these sketches, and the whole show, was how light-hearted they were – it made a nice change to watch something which didn’t derive its humour from depressing current events, but from original and silly concepts. 

There was a mixture of sketches which varied from several minutes long to ten seconds long, which kept things unpredictable and exciting,and was on the whole a good aspect of the show. However, there were a few sketches which could have benefitted with being longer and more well-explained, and a couple which were perhaps slightly too long.

"It was weird, group-minded and stitch-inducingly funny - deserving of a more responsive audience than it got"

All aspects of the show, not just the sketches, were both carefully thought-out and casual. The set was minimal, but worked perfectly for every sketch - the pauses between which were quick and accompanied by a new song each time instead of awkward silence, and the choice for the cast to wear identical boiler suits reinforced their equality as comedians. 

Organised fun, seriously sketchy.

The closing sketch, a harmonic chant led by God about the creation of the first ant, was the perfect end to the show, epitomising all that was best about Laugh, Why Don’t You. It was weird, group-minded and stitch-inducingly funny - deserving of a more responsive audience than it got