Foil, Arms and Hog - Strangers with Sweets

Foil, Arms and Hog are strangers with sweets – but not the raincoat-wearing sort. They come to this year’s Fringe bearing a show with all the effervescence of sherbet, and manage to keep it sweet. With their high-energy sketches, these three young strangers from Ireland have the antidote to revive any jaded Fringe-goer. Not unfamiliar to the festival in fact, they had a sell-out run of shows last year.

Working a cheap heckle into their sketch brilliantly, they mark themselves out as a talented group of comedians from the start. And anything lost in the milking of a couple gags (the only negative) is redeemed by the authenticity and originality of their performance as a whole. Though it might be fair to say that they are still getting to grips with the delivery of their material, their youth excuses this lack of experience.

Their repertoire is varied: from the Evening News we jump to an Oxfam street worker to the old Glasgow/Edinburgh divide. They laugh at the stuff of life in the most unexpected ways. The “computer-sound dance” (the only way to describe it, however ineloquent) is the strongest routine, the physicality of the segment inducing sheer delight.

And what’s so nice about this show is that these likeable lads are clearly here to have a good time – but never at the expense of their audience.

Defy your mother just this once and accept their sherbet show. You’ll emerge buzzing onto the Cowgate wearing their signature ‘My dad's a paedophile’ badge (a joke of the night). Worry about your disinheritance later.