Don't Drop The Egg ****

Some shows at the Fringe take themselves really seriously. Too many do actually. Far too many.

You can sometimes feel the intensity of the performers trying desperately hard to get noticed, suffering for their craft, even when they are putting on a pretty silly comedy show!

Other times, you get a bunch of lads who just want to arse around on stage and play exaggerated versions of themselves to see how they get on. Don't Drop The Egg is very much that. Three ex-rugby players, acting like rugby players, but turning it into an hour long play.

Certainly in the UK, pretty much everybody has either played rugby, dated a rugby player, or at least watched a bunch of rugger-buggers "on the lash" - quite possibly ruining everyone else's night out, so everyone can relate to these guys pretty much straight away.

The players welcome you in to the venue by psyching you up and asking for a "big game performance" and for the rest of the show, you are one of them; transported into the changing rooms as the "Clapham Falcons" prepare for the biggest match in their history.

The show evolved from a youtube clip which went viral and this is the first time they have ever performed live. There were one or two signs that this was the case, mainly in the structure of the play which had an ideal ending around 40 minutes in (which I can't mention without spoiling the play) which was followed by a "job interview" sketch that could have gone in far earlier and was much lower energy than the previous part.

But that didn't take away from the fact that it was a great little show in a great little room for this type of comedy (Pleasance Cellar). I've seen some brilliant stuff in there over the years including Adam Riches and "Bad Play" who are both five star shows and whilst these guys aren't at that level just yet they certainly have a similar brand of comedy which is unadulterated pretentious-free fun.

An absolute must see for all rugby types!