Note: This review is from the 2014 Fringe

Showing @ Underbelly – Cowgate, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug @ 19:20

Small, leathery and faceless – like anatomical exhibits or upholsterers off-cuts come to life. Boris and Sergey are two puppet brothers with a dark sense of humour and a charmingly laissez-faire attitude to death and bloodshed. Helped by the guiding hands of Flabbergast’s manipulators they provide an hour of grisly fun amongst the impedimenta of a travelling Victorian freakshow; perfectly located in the cavernous gloom of the Underbelly.

Unlike the Victorian freakshows, this is no mere exercise in voyeurism. Audience participation is at the heart of Boris & Sergey’s show and improvisations sparked by suggestions and objects from the audience can lead to weird and wonderful storytelling possibilities – on this occasion giving us the tale of Gary the asthmatic badger and his underwater Kung-Fu battle with Leonardo de Caprio.

There’s some structure here to the show, but space is always left for spontaneous invention which is what the performers thrive on. There were none of the walkouts they have become known for and perhaps the earlier slot makes this show a little tamer, but it’s still a dark little treat packed with huge and twisted imagination.

Read Neil’s interview with Flabbergast Theatre’s Henry Maynard here

Showing as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014