Fresh off the back of a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Meat and Two Veg returned to Islington with a three-night sold-out run of Dirty Laundry.
Dirty Laundry’s Cambridge Footlights alumni comedic trio, Maddie London, Robbie Boyd and Emily Symington, left no stone unturned when it came to dissecting the absurdities of modern UK society at The Hen and Chicken Theatre Bar.
Their hour-long sketch set was a unique blend of humour, political insight and satirical critique, taking aim at societal uptightness and the obsessions of the contemporary world.
Fortunately, as highlighted by the trio, Dirty Laundry had not been affected by the ongoing writer’s strikes and they were armed with fresh, satirical material.
During their performance, the trio jabbed at society’s growing fixation with sleep, the end of “More is More,” and the rise of “Scandi-Minimalism,” as well as the dramatic turn of every distress becoming an “anxiety” nowadays, rather than just a simple age-old worry.
“Do these wolves look like wolves or worries?” quipped London.
The madness of the dating world was not spared by Meat and Two Veg’s comedic scrutiny, with the trio poking fun at the romanticisation of the mundane act of commuting on London transport.
One standout sketch that had the audience in stitches was “Cooking with Brooklyn,” where the trio mocked David Beckham’s son for his “revolutionary take” on the cheese toastie.
Apparently being able to make pasta from scratch makes men more relatable, as they attempt to make cooking “their niche.”
The use of a black box set-up provided an intimate and versatile stage for their performance.
Music and the integration of voiceovers for inner thoughts allowed the trio to smoothly transition from one sequence to the next, helping them to maintain momentum and keep the audience engaged—no mean feat for an hour-long comedy sketch show!
Although arbitrary props, including a dolphin’s head and sock puppets, helped highlight modern society’s absurdity, the trio could have taken this further with more creative lighting or greater audience interaction.
Up in Edinburgh, Hannah from the BBC show “The Traitors” and Charly Clive from the iconic “Britney” sketch troupe were among some of the most exciting people Meat and Two Veg flyered at the Fringe Festival this summer.
When not making their audience cackle, London is a drama teacher and volunteers with a refugee charity; Boyd is training to be an investigative journalist; and Symington is hunting down the country’s next biggest talent (her rivals) at a film, theatre and television agency.
Ultimately, Dirty Laundry served as a hilarious reminder not to take everything too seriously in life. Their sharp wit, fresh material and unapologetic satire made for a fabulous night of comedy at The Hen and Chicken Theatre Bar.
Up next for the trio are the heats in December for “Sketch Off,” the UK’s biggest sketch competition.
Feature Image Credit: Meat and Two Veg
Writer(s): Meat and Two Veg
Director: Martha French
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