Kieran and the Joes: Success

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Built around the imaginative conceit of a motivational seminar on "how to succeed in everything," Success is firmly rooted in the tradition of Oxbridge humour. That is by no means a bad thing. The style has produced some of the Fringe's all-time greats, and while it's hard to say where Kieran and the Joes might end up, it's a safe bet that their trajectory will be firmly upwards for the time being.

In the space of an hour, the trio combine excellent character comedy with strong doses of satire and inspired daftness. The characters—an absurdly confident CEO, his put-upon deputy and a dopey apprentice—are remarkably sympathetic, gaining the audience's affection stealthily as the show progresses.

The introduction to their idiosyncratic approach to management comes in the form of a frankly ridiculous spoof play casting chess pieces as various members of society. This in turn serves as the start of a sharply observed satirical sprint through attitudes to class, as told through the medium of Pythonesque nonsense.

Kieran and the Joes are a young group, though, and their inexperience shows on occasion. While the audience are happy to join in with an outbreak of corpsing, it happens slightly too often here and tarnishes the otherwise polished approach. That said, there is a great deal of talent here. Given the rich tradition of Oxbridge comedy, it's tough to stand out but these three are more than capable.