A highlight of my Camden Fringe so far, Other Mysteries’ The Midnight Snack is a podcast brought to hilarious theatrical life
“What you’re about to hear is not your standard true crime podcast”
The Midnight Snack was written and created by ensemble Other Mysteries, based on the original podcast. While some made sourdough and others drank cocktails (guess which one was me…), they spent lockdown adapting an original comic series by Candice MacAllister into a four-part radio play, their efforts on Zoom really paying off, and leading to this further adaptation into a piece of live theatre.
Living in his mother’s basement, Harry’s efforts at becoming a podcaster aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. But when an actual body turns up right before a major baking competition is about to start, can he seize the opportunity to make a name for himself and solve the crime. Or is the collection of oddballs in this town so substantial that there’s nothing but the star-spangled ingredients for a holy mess?
In these young but expert hands, The Midnight Snack proves to be fricking hilarious. MacAllister directs her company of three with absolute comic precision, which allows them the freedom to go as large as they like. Jonah Walsh’s cute but dumb Harry is a continual delight but Carolyn Hartvigsen and Mackenzie Larsen in playing every single other character are off the chart, particularly when they’re asked to play multiple characters in the same scene, just because.
And from chefs with short-term memory loss to men with paisley ties, femme fatales with rival podcasts to flirtatious bakers, there’s a whole world of ridiculousness here that is highly amusing even as it tips towards the absurd – rubber chickens with knives, roast chicken with ketchup, the passive-aggressive sweeping…! I really hope this isn’t the last we hear of this show and this group as they could be onto something huge here.
The Midnight Snack is booking at the Lion and Unicorn until 13th August
