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Thespian Reviews

Reviews, interviews and geeking from all corners of the stagey world.

Review: Bad Clowns and Good Friends, The Museum of Comedy

  • Writer: thespianmeg
    thespianmeg
  • Apr 26
  • 4 min read

Updated: May 13



In a crypt filled with comedic artefacts from legends past and present, there is a monthly variety show. Summoned by the hosts ‘Bad Clowns Comedy’, a party of comedians emerge from their hiding places to perform for your entertainment. 


‘Bad Clowns and Good Friends’ has been around since August twenty twenty four, where it was performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It has since been to FUSEBOX Kingston and Cowgate in Edinburgh before it found its home at The Museum of Comedy, where it will return with a different cast of acts every last Thursday of the month. 





Bad Clowns Comedy

Enter Bad Clowns Comedy consisting of John Bond, Sam Walls and Christian Dart. Three different flavours of clown sorbet, beginning their hosting with an epically electric song and cleansing the palette between acts with…wordle!


 A delightfully new way of entertaining between acts, I find myself unexpectedly crying with laughter when the prize of a ticket to the next month’s show accidentally goes to a member of the cast. 


This being said, as fun as it is as a one off, I would be curious to see if they decide to experiment with other possibilities. 




Jess Carrivick

Starting strong with this larger than life character comedian. Jess Carrivick stars as Cassandra Della Treebourne: ‘International jazz singer and Hollywood legend’. Complete with fur coat and an attitude like a significantly friendlier and more enthusiastic Miss Piggy, she owns the stage. 


Fast-talking self commentary and pauses encouraging the audience to chime in, makes her act feel inviting, like she’s giving you the chance to get in on some really juicy gossip. 


Her jazz song bit is particularly hilarious, especially with the simplification of how to make a jazz version of any song. It’s a lot of fun skit-skatting with her as a collective. 




Lily Edwards

Next up, another character comedian. This time Lilly Edwards takes on the stereotypical gangster caricature and turns him into mummy’s precious angel. Yes, he still runs the mob and takes care of the family, but this cinnamon roll is also a poet. 


Edward’s vocal control is outstanding in creating humor through an altered and heavily exaggerated accent. There is a child-like quality to her character, which gives the act a boost of playful directness. 


Not to mention that the poetry is carefully crafted to draw you in before metaphorically spraying a water pistol in your face. 




Lottie Grogan

A stand up comedian walks into a room and eventually gets the flip chart to clip onto the white board, the set up is just as funny as the main event. 


Have you ever wondered what stand up comedy is? Fear not, Lottie Grogan is here with a very meta presentation to explain all. 


Her style is very literal. As she schools us in stand-up, we all find ourselves following the methodology of ‘observation and practice’, making this sketch particularly heavy on audience interaction and I’m here for it. I find myself in stitches, especially during the interval in the middle of the act. It’s safe to say there may be a stand-up comedy Yoda in our midst. 




James Moss

Avant Garde character comedy enters the rodeo, tip your hats to the sleepy time sheriff. This imaginative character is a really interesting and energetic work in progress, with outstanding potential if fleshed out a bit more. 


I’ll admit, it is impressive to manage such a feat as getting two audience members to agree to have a bounce on Sheriff's lap. The brief reading of ‘The Birth of Tragedy’ as a bedtime story was unexpected and arguably the funniest part of the bit, I only wish it had gone on for longer.


If anyone can make this Sheriff come into his own, it’s Moss, he has the boldness to run with this idea and charisma to pull it off exceptionally well. 




Joe da Costa

Ending the night on a high note, musical comedy makes love to a funky guitar and it is beautiful. Not only is his witty lyric writing sharp with its tight rhyme scheme, but his voice is utterly gorgeous. 


But don’t let this lull you into a false sense of security. He cleverly sets up expectations only to shock us by taking things in a totally different direction, generating impactful comedy through the masterful element of surprise. 


Da Costa shows he understands the power of comedy as a tuning pick and he uses it to open up conversations about real-world everyday social issues, making his songs catchy, meaningful and memorable. The clown prince of folk songs.


A night to expand your comedy horizons and absolutely worth seeing, this is a real class act overflowing with talent. I will be sure to return to see what future evenings have in store.


Star rating: **** Four stars

 

Age rating: Sixteen plus.


Content notes: Varying and relatively unpredictable, audience discretion advised.



 
 
 

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