A Foot is Not An Appropriate Prize for the Tombola has a wonderfully intriguing premise and it this that drew me into a show where I spent much of the performance trying to work out exactly how a severed foot had ended up on Lydia’s tombola stall.
McVey plays Lydia with an impressive straight faced commitment to the increasingly ridiculous situation around her. Her obsession with rules, schedules and village gossip gives McVey plenty to work with. McVeys ability to play Lydia’s seriousness completely straight is what makes many of the absurd moments land, particularly when Lydia is interacting with the audience participants.
The script itself is bizarre and takes the audience on a journey through interviewing Cluedo-like suspects through to the supernatural, something I was not expecting out of this production. There are some interesting takeaways out of the script as we hear about Little England in passing and small town life along with the illusion of democracy. All interesting ideas but the comedy remains the focus of the piece. The show itself is undoubtably whacky and fun and there were plenty of moments that had me laughing. However the comedy isn’t quite as relentless as the premise might suggest and there were stretches where the show felt more amusing than genuinley hilarious.
Four suspects are revealed and audience volunteers are enlisted to play these suspects along with PC Peach’s puppeteer. This adds another layer of comedy, particularly as the volunteers gamely throw themselves into the situation. The voiceover for PC Peach is well thought out meaning that the audience member chosen just had to be willing puppeteer and giving one of the suspects, Master Tommy Navy Blue 2 answers to choose from rather than read from a script was also inspired. Talking of scripts, it was slightly disappointing that McVey had one in hand for much of the show. Whilst it was passed off well as Lydia’s schedule it did slightly shatter the theatrical illusion that McVey had worked so hard to create.
The set is, naturally, a functioning tombola with the audience members invited to participate in winning prizes, from Pez sweets to certificate. The deliberately underwhelming prizes perfectly capture the feeling of an intentionally crap village tombola and are another example of the shows commitment to its central absurdity.
A Foot Is Not An Appropriate Prize For The Tombola is an undeniably silly and enjoyable piece of Fringe comedy with a wonderfully bonkers premise and a committed central performance from Daniel McVey. The audience participation and the deliberately shoddy tombola adds to the fun, although the comedy doesn’t always reach the heights its premise promises and some of the more interesting ideas remain secondary to the silliness. There is plenty here to raise a laugh even if it ultimately feels more amusing than unmissable.
A Foot Is Not An Appropriate Prize For The Tombola is playing at The Pleasance from 15:20 – 16:20 each day. You can book tickets here.
If you like this review you might also like my review of Meet Mayor Max, Texas Annie: The Legend of the Moan Ranger and The Shocking Truth About Flat Earth.