Have you ever successfully summoned a ghost through a ouija board seance? No? Well neither have your hosts, Andrew and Ambika, so why not watch some sketch comedy while you wait to see if anything happens! Join your seance-leaders in their production of Children of the Quorn™ playing at La Belle Angele, and get ready to witness some frighteningly clever sketch-comedy.
Although the production includes many small skits—some almost as miniscule as one-liners—Children of the Quorn™ manages to stay clean and concise while boasting an impressive array of quirky stories by restaging the duo’s hilarious past performance gigs, including a raw medical drama full of killer bees, and a frustrated Simon and Garfunkel cover band.
Andrew and Ambika, who constitute the comedy duo Megan from HR, are wickedly smart. Their choreographed style of comedic timing works every time and is a thrill to watch. Not only is their comedic timing perfect, but their sketches are just long enough to feed the show’s whirlwind momentum while giving many nods to previous jokes along the way.
Even as they tell the stories of an outrageous soap opera or a precious little girl named Gollum Smeagol, their endearing personalities come through to make for a very comfortable, hilarious spectacle. Yet don’t get too comfortable, because Andrew and Ambika are testing you! Many of their sketches deconstructs what makes a joke funny, throws it in the audience’s faces, then apologises and picks up the pieces.
The duo’s interaction on stage is hilariously tense and brutal at times, all while being nothing but supportive beneath. Andrew and Ambika’s nonchalant, casual ill will towards one another is the peak of self aware comedy and topped only by when the two poke fun of the audience. The duo glares at the audience with self-righteous sympathy when a joke veers off the expected path, then grudgingly explains it in patronizing glee.
This is the kind of audience participation modern audiences crave, because deprecating humour is the comedy of the age, and these millennials are absolutely killing it. Overall, Children of the Quorn™ has perfected the deconstruction and teaching of comedy to a crowd while keeping it as farcical and quick-paced as the classic sketch-comedy we all love.
