Stevie Martin reviews the last ever WitTank performance in Durham…

“They just look like they’re having a great time.”

WitTank are, indisputably, extremely funny. Their audiences are huge, their suits are sharp and they have garnered such reviews as “oh god they are so good I’m not sure they are even human… I actually died twice during one of their shows and had to be resuscitated. And then wet myself.”
The good thing about the strangely hyperbolic response to WitTank is that it isn’t completely unfounded. Healthwise, I had no problems during the show, but I did enjoy it. Their Returners performances (sold-out, of course) were solid, slick and despite having seen the set before it, didn’t fail to crack me up.

The meta format of speaking to the audience is usually something which riles me to the extreme, but in this instance it served to establish an immediate rapport with the audience. They just look like they’re having a great time, shambolic and charming yet at the same time completely confident, a mix of characteristics that makes for an audience at ease, and a cast able to squeeze a laugh out of someone ironing. In fact, referring to WitTank members as a cast feels wrong, and perhaps the reason for so much hyperbole is the fact that they look like a group of especially hilarious friends messing about on stage. Regardless of whether a sketch works, or it doesn’t, they make it look fun, and they all have their merits.

Guy Corbett, for whom this was his last WitTank run, has a distinctive style which worked especially well in the portrayal of a mental breakdown halfway through the show. He can shout quite loudly, and also attract croissant with his mind- another sketch which highlighted how well he works within the dynamics of the group. His monologue about Hell was perhaps one of the weaker sketches, but his performance carried it, whereas other, lesser comedians would have potentially, and for want of a better word, died on their arses. Kieran Boyd though anchoring another of the weaker sketches about a teaching epidemic sweeping the nation, was put to good use in the Hell monologue, his voiceover interjections illustrating his perfect comic timing. Also, the Thinktank sketch which is inadvertently one of the strongest, showcased his ability to play a variety of different comic roles, and perform them well. He also stole the Jubjub sketch, which was a mean feat considering he shared the stage with Naz Osmanoglu who was on impressive form, tie straightened and vocal volume turned up to eleven. It’s not all shouting though; he does possess an incredible stage presence and a fantastic comic delivery. However, despite doing “aggressive” well , towards the end of the show it would have been nice to have seen him playing some more diverse roles. Mark Cooper-Jones wasn’t used enough, in my personal opinion. There was not enough for him to work with in his earlier sketches to get the audience completely on his side, but after some good adlibbing in the Thinktank sketch, he seemed to settle in and it would have been better to see him carrying as many sketches as Naz, for instance. The best sketch in the show, the one in which a father has to announce the death of his son, worked so well because of his absolutely spot-on delivery. It’s a simple idea, perfectly executed.

As for the material, there are good sketches and there are poorer sketches, but even the latter are performed with panache, and the mixture of the short and the long makes for a show that’s easy to watch. They mix surrealism with good old fashioned punch lines, concise and well-rehearsed skits with three minute long improvised Naz-rants involving being, erm, rimmed, and it rarely appears self-indulgent. Okay, so a three minute long slow motion section solely based on how hilarious it is when two guys who aren’t gay pretend to get off isn’t exactly Fry and Laurie, but it’s silly, and not overly gratuitous. I will say that the amount of on-stage laughing perhaps occured a little more than was necessary, and a few instances did look slightly rehearsed, but the punch lines (“Course I am, get in the van”) are strong and there are some subtler, throw-away lines (“Like a hinge. Or a door.”) which gives their material a lot more depth. Some of the sketches don’t work, and some of them do, but between them they have come up with something that’s a lot of fun to watch. Whatever the next year holds for WitTank, and though I didn‘t physically lose control of all my bodily functions and start crying uncontrollably, the Durham comedy scene will really, genuinely miss them.

Stevie Martin