Review by Tatum Stafford
The Crizards duo are back for another Ed Fringe season, and after reading rave reviews from their last appearance here, I was excited to head along to their latest show ‘This Means War’.
The duo is made up of Will Rowland and Eddy Hare, who want to make a name for themselves as “Europe’s lowest energy double act”. In this show, Eddy Hare wants to tell the story of his grandfather who fought in the war, and he has spent all the money he made at his part-time office temp job to bring the show to the Fringe and keep his grandfather’s legacy alive. Only, as the show goes on, it becomes clearer to the audience that he isn’t 100% of exactly what happened to his grandfather during war time…
The show gets madder as it goes on, and features plenty of multi-role-playing by Will, a persistent Eddy, and tons of physical humour. It opens with a faux sincere ballad to set the mood, and from there, we dive into twists and turns of war, including little Belgian boys, The Continental-e nightclub, and learn about how snipers were particularly targeting those with cigarettes.
The pair have undeniable chemistry, and the unique ability to riff off the cuff whenever something would go wrong tech-wise, one of them would forget a line, or things got a bit ridiculous and they wanted to throw the audience a wink. It was one of those shows where you could sit back, relax, and be led by comic masters through a hilariously unbelievable story.
The show included plenty of props (including one impressive horse prop that I won’t spoil too much), and direction by Jordan Brookes ensured there was never a dull moment, and the small playing space was used within an inch of its life.
This is a very solid hour of comedy from some Fringe favourites, and I’d recommend grabbing a ticket for a laugh or twenty.
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