In a strange year for sketch comedy at the Edinburgh fringe – the year that the Penny Dreadful’s veered away from a Victorian-based theme and Pappy’s dropped not only sketch member Brendan Dodds, but also the ‘Fun Club’ of their title in a tip of the hat to him, and consequentially the ‘fun’ in their sketch show it seems – Edinburgh seems to have unearthed a diamond in the rough in the guise of The Three Englishmen sketch comedy group.
The four Englishmen in The Three Englishmen are Nick Hall, Ben Cottam, Jack Hartnell and Tom Hensby. That’s about as confusing as it gets. The foursome have been performing together as a threesome for just under a year and already have a residency at the Canal Cafe, recently been signed by United, and now have a 5* fringe show under their belt. With sketches ranging from their opening slow-mo mime of a group of Brazilian football fans watching their team in the World Cup to a fantastic basketball grudge match with a human basketball, they don’t just make up funny sketches about sport they cover other subjects too, and are a great group of writers and genuinely funny guys. Not yet a year in to their career together and this far on already, something tells me that if they carry on like this the Three Englishmen may well out-sketch them all.
Waxing rhapsodic 