Dan Clarkson and Jeff Turner bring their fourth Potted stories to the Fringe. It follows their highly successful Potted Potter, Potted Panto and Potted Pirate shows.
This time they turn their attention to Sherlock Holmes with Potted Sherlock.
It follows the same magical formula as the others but this time the comic duo have the addition of a woman whose name they can’t remember. She is in fact Lizzie Wort and enters into this madcap world of comic mayhem with enthusiastic relish.
This is a 70-minute chaotic romp through all 56 short stories and 4 novels so is quite a challenge. It works perfectly with wonderfully funny sketches, tremendous physicality and is filled with terrible puns and gags that the audience loved.
There is some great visual comedy and the action is fast paced and hilarious particularly when things apparently go wrong. The telling of the Hound of the Baskervilles complete with sound effects is certainly a highlight.
The sequence when they change characters by putting on a different hat when a buzzer sounds is hilarious and exhausting to watch.
It’s a witty script with Sherlock completing everyone sentences and getting his many catchphrases wrong. The ongoing emergence of Moriarty as a puppet is hilarious and he makes many false appearances but I wont spoil the funny gags.
What is delightful about this show is the warmth and rapport that Dan and Jeff build up with the audience with many farcical ad-libs.
The slapstick humour gets bigger and this year is wetter. It ends with all 21 cases being solved in a song. This is great family entertainment.