After starring in the Pleasance Reserve last year, Abby Wambaugh is back with their full-length Fringe debut, ‘The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows‘. The show is pretty self-explanatory: Wambaugh takes us on a whirlwind tour of 17 potential show ideas, pivoting to a new concept every three minutes (ish).
In their own words, it’s a great idea because if you don’t like a particular sketch, it’ll be over soon. Despite that hedging, however, every single skit is an undeniable hit with the audience. Wambaugh starts out strong with a vacuum impression (watch out for your trouser legs, front row – you’ve been warned), before trying their hand at old man parkour and roping us into a game called ‘Scare the Banana’; it’s all as delightfully ridiculous as it sounds.
Only, the show is so much more than 17 disparate skits. To be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – it would still be an incredibly accomplished piece of comedy even if that were the case. But the first few sketches are simply laying the groundwork for much more somber subject matter; eventually Wambaugh finally reveals the full backstory behind why they chose to start doing comedy back in 2020. The story itself is solely theirs to tell, but it’s safe to say that by the time we reach the denouement of ‘The First 3 Minutes… ‘ – which consists of Wambaugh simply reading from a printed essay, à la David Sedaris – there isn’t a dry eye in the Pleasance Attic.
And yet, despite the heart-wrenching nature of the subject matter, Wambaugh still ends the show on a genuinely humorous note. It’s a testament to their strong crowd work abilities – and, considering this is only their first Fringe show(!), we’re absolutely intrigued to see what they do next.
‘The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows‘ is at Pleasance Courtyard – Attic until Mon 26 Aug 2024 at 19:15
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