THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Edinburgh Fringe: Gilded Balloon Patter House, 3 Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1
Part sketch comedy, part magic show, Kat and Alan Hudson's charming performance at the Fringe Festival 2024 takes you through the stages of their per-nuptial relationship. How did they meet? Who bored who with magic tricks on their first date? Their engagement must have involved a joke with the ring, right? All these questions and more are answered in the act.
Hailing from Hull, with accents to match – I appreciated the handy translation guide they handed out – Kat and Alan have separately achieved success before such arbiters of good taste as Simon Cowell (Britain's Got Talent) and Penn & Teller. As a married couple, there is an extra layer of interest. They tease each other relentlessly, which is itself entertaining.
At times, the act comes across as scripted, which we all know it is, but I prefer it not to be obvious. That said, it didn't seem to affect audience humor or engagement. Sometimes that sort of clumsiness makes the jokes even funnier.
The Hudsons mentioned that the beloved British comedy duo Morecambe & Wise was an inspiration to them. My Scottish husband introduced me to Morecambe & Wise after I moved to the UK in 2014. At first, I watched them askance. What is this? These dignified, besuited men engaging in nonsensical gags. The British sense of humor is so weird!
The longer I have lived here, the better I understand it. In a culture that is more reserved, at least while sober, people who look like that being zany is surprising. And surprise is the basis of most good comedy. (Although I fully admit that I'm still mystified by puns.)
Although Kat and Alan do not resemble Eric and Ernie in looks, they serve in the role of straight man and jokester by turns. With the gags goofy and gentle, I could see the resemblance.
With respect to the quality of the magic tricks, I defer to my eleven-year old son who accompanied me. He said the magic tricks were good
. He had seen some of them before but not all. Overall, he gave the show a 9 out of 10.
