Paul Zerdin: Sponge Fest Revisited

Fighting a good-natured battle with Nina Conti for supremacy in Britain’s newly cool ventriloquism scene, Paul Zerdin returns to the Fringe with a reworked version of last year’s hit show Sponge Fest. The result doesn’t disappoint. Abusive puppets, deft audience-work and dazzling feats of technical skill are all on display as Zerdin fires his reborn art further into the public consciousness.

Cheeky kid Sam still leads the pack of puppets, and starts the show with some pointed observations about various members of the front row, followed up by some finely honed banter. This all builds to a sublime sequence in which Sam discovers how ventriloquism works and quite where Zerdin’s hand is, all played to perfection.

Indeed, Zerdin seems happiest when breaking down his act, gently mocking the audience for their focus on a puppet. Briefly ditching the puppets to showcase the dark side to his talents, he proves a formidable standup comic without them as he explores the mimic’s powers in a world full of talking gadgets.

If there is a catch to Zerdin’s show, it’s that the later puppets fail to match the heights of hilarity scaled by Sam. That said, their appearance together in a very funny if slightly unnerving finale is one that audiences will remember for quite some time.

He signs off: “If you enjoyed my show, my name’s Paul Zerdin. If not, it’s Nina Conti.” On the evidence of Sponge Fest Revisited, Zerdin won’t be dropping out of the fight with his monkey-wielding opponent any time soon.