It’s standard practice for Fringe comedians to pun off their own names for a show title; punning off a TLC album title instead has given sketch duo Lazy Susan both a loose description of their act and an image for their poster (although mainly it’s just another example of how the use of puns on the Fringe continues to Creep).
Freya Parker and Celeste Dring hit the ground running, invading the stage dressed as coke-snorting bears. It’s a high paced opening that gets the Pleasance Bunker abuzz. The chemistry between them is palpably strong, as it ought to be for a duo now in their third Fringe hour.
They continue to show Vic and Bob tendencies – a tangential link to reality, wilfully ludicrous use of wigs and costume, and self-caricature alongside invented characters. The self-caricature thread is particularly strong, with moments of self-awareness, including about their Cambridge background, well worked in. Dring introspects about herself – the “Lana Del Rey of sketch comedy” – while Parker, losing interest, drifts off into a dreamworld where she’s friends with a dancing horse.
Over the hour, Gary the Horse develops his own persona. Other anthropomorphised animals don’t hit the mark in the same way. A recurring sketch about an American town being overrun by squid is good for the sexual tensions between the anchorman and his on-the-spot reporter, but the array of sea creatures that step up to the mic don’t lend much to proceedings.
The strongest characters also don’t get much stage time compared to the news duo. A hard-nut Northern copper called DCI Shambles is not sparklingly different or new but gets good laughs for his arbitrary violence. There’s also a pair of sloaney types doing online sex tips. They’re not a million miles away from Dring’s turn as Princess Eugenie in The Windsors, and some of the writing is a little loose, but it’s a perfect fit for them.
They round it off well, bringing all the characters back for a final quick run out, and Gary the Horse gets his comeuppance for trying to come between the girls. Crazy Sexy Fool has been another enjoyable hour by the pair.