“Riotous, clever, sensitive, hilarious – a genuine pick of the Fringe”

Editorial Rating:  5 Stars (Outstanding)

My youngest is a fan of monkeys. Monkey daft. If it is simian, she is agog. If it not, she generally is, well, erm not agog. It was inevitable then when I threw the the Fringe Guide at the Young Team that Monkeys Everywhere would come back circled. A delayed start to the Fringe for us but we trooped off to the Pleasance and were jolly pleased we did.

Garry Elizabeth Starr swings onto stage through his makeshift bedroom of scaffolding (hardcore IKEA work this). A grown man swinging and rolling around scaffolding like an Olympic gymnast (narrowly missing his bonce a few times) wasn’t what I expected but it was an explosion onto the stage which continued for the full hour. It wasn’t immediately clear to me why he was dressed as an extra from Blackadder II but it all added to the bonkers charm of it all. More men should wear ruffs.

Starr is a master of his art. Children heckle, run onto the stage, cause mayhem and this involvement seems only to add to Starr’s humour. One begins to suspect the little terrors are actually on the payroll in some way or other. It takes huge skill to ad lib as much as Starr did in the show I went to whilst sticking to the thrust of the show and hanging it all together.

My children, and and the vast ranks behind me, were howling and hooting. Adults were too. The running theme throughout the show is Starr’s mental health and he uses the idea of controlling the myriad monkeys as a metaphor. This leads to a few moments when all of the audience – big or small – are forced to think deeply. Then, just as you are pondering, something hilarious happens or Starr gets a phone call from the Prime Minister of Theatre.

This show is what children’s shows should be about. Showing them the utter joy of theatre. Taking them away from the day-to-day. Making them bellylaugh but also making them feel and think about big things. There is a lot of laughter – how could there not be? After all there is magic, physical comedy, magic, toilet humour, poo flinging and clever, constant audience participation that smashes any pretence at a fourth wall. There is though a serious edge. This is difficult terrain in an adult’s show. It is harder again for children’s shows. Starr skips along that tightrope.

If a good kids show includes jokes that sail over the heads of the little darlings, a great kids show makes adults and kids think alike. Some of the younger ones won’t get the metaphors and that is fine… they’ll giggle away. Others will and that’s good too. After all, the only thing more exhausting than having monkeys everywhere, is trying to pretend they’re not.

Riotous, clever, sensitive, hilarious – a genuine pick of the Fringe.

Go for the monkeys. Stay for the bananas. Get your coats on and see this.