One for the musical theatre lovers amongst us, Two by Two: Here We Go Again pairs the comedy favourites of Cambridge with its budding West End stars and sets them the task of creating a song and a sketch. As we were reminded by their hosts, many of the comedic performers had never sung on stage before – a fact more noticeable in the performances of some than others. The obvious musical talent of the performers selected from a musical theatre background made the slightly painful renditions by some of the comedians entirely forgivable. And, in the cases of some, there were more dark horses than expected who could definitely hold their own in their duets.

The humour did often rely on a knowledge of the songs being parodied, which made it a little difficult at times, particularly considering some of the song choices were a tad niche. I would consider myself a fairly knowledgeable musical theatre fan, and some of the songs were entirely new to me – Avenue Q, ‘There’s a Fine, Fine Line’, for example.

The first pairing (Tigerlily Hutchinson and Jamie Williams), who performed a song from Beauty and the Beast, had me (and most of the audience) crying with laughter. Every one of us who has ever tried, (tried, and failed) to perform every part of ‘One Day More’ in our showers could see themselves in Hutchinson’s frantic rendition of every character other than Belle. We’ve all been there (If you haven’t, this probably isn’t the show for you). And credit must also be given to Williams for keeping an impeccably straight face throughout it all.

Special commendation must go to Izzy Lewis for that finale in ‘Defying Gravity’ – the hosts made big promises, and although we were dubious at the start of the number, she successfully followed through. Tackling any rendition of Elphaba is no easy task.

The hosts, Will Owen and Harriet Fisher, dressed in enough sparkle to make you squint, successfully strung the numbers together and made the best of a few technical difficulties to add to the laughs, to start and end the show on a high note (literally and figuratively). They bounced off each other and seemed genuinely excited about the acts they were presenting and the show they’d put together, which carried through into the audience. More of them please?

Some sketches certainly worked better than others. The Avenue Q number went almost entirely over my head, although there were a few humorous moments, and the novelty of ‘Send in the Clowns’ with a visible clown around wore off pretty quickly. It would have been interesting to see the performers toy with the lyrics a bit more – on the whole, the sketches worked around acting the songs differently, rather than changing the words. Those with a strong concept and which were well done worked, but those without flailed. Although there was the odd Cambridge-related bit of editing, more of this would have spruced up the songs we all know a little more. The editions that were made were witty and always garnered plenty of laughs, particularly those in Fisher and Owen’s opening number.

Two by Two: Here We Go Again gave me a much-needed giggle (or in some cases, some hysterical crying) in amongst the hectic rush that is moving back to Cambridge and the onslaught of work. The massive discrepancies in the sketches performed means some could do with a little more work, and maybe if Two by Two returns for a third time in my third year at Cambridge, I’ll swot up on my musicals just a bit more before going.