Plinky Plonk, Camden Fringe 2024 at the Hen & Chickens Theatre
“I’ll see what the ball shows me”
As already discussed, there’s a whole lotta improv to choose from at Camden Fringe 2024 so shows need to find their point of difference. Plinky Plonk bill themselves as ‘underscored improv’, the company of Josh Tyas, Lily Edwards, Chris Lynch and Charlotte Byrne joined by Jerome Van den Berghe on keys, offering some seriously impressive musical accompaniment to the improvised shenanigans onstage.
The first half of Plinky Plonk sees the group spray out a series of short scenes, each based on a favourite song lyric provided pre-show by the audience (I was gutted that my Édith Piaf snippet wasn’t chosen ;-)). Joined by special guests Paul Creasy, Hannah Pye and the excellent Ruairi McInerney, this was an inspired half-hour of joyous randomness with a hilarious throughline about Lidl emerging across the skits.
The second half-hour shifts gears to give us a single story, again partly shaped by audience suggestions of key criteria. Whilst this does feel slightly less unique, the comic chops of the core quartet ensure a high level of quality delivery, a quirky take on a rizz-filled Dracula and his ambitious would-be acolytes. A strong hour of good improv then, that first half really stands out though.
