The Pin

The Pin—aka chummy duo Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen—have been ascending the hallowed ranks of cerebral sketch acts for a while now, selling out their previous two Fringe visits. They’re packed again tonight, and have souped-up their routine with borrowed props, pre-recorded video relays and a superbly conceived stooge.

They start well, seemingly creating their show on the spot and puppeteering the audience through a script which is being written in the room and projected on a large screen behind them. It’s not the only time the inner workings are revealed as sketches are repeated with additional amplified subtext, translated, rerun and refined with different cast (audience) members. The more you see the setup, the more the gags are layered up like deliciously syrupy pancakes.

It’s a neat idea that allows Ashenden and Owen to play to their comically studious, faux-naïf strengths, a bus stop skit transposing Ant and Dec for the European market a brilliantly off-hand case in point.

On occasion, though, the trickery trips them up – an extended dialogue between the pair and a filmed version of themselves is both tortuous and overlong, with a pay-off that never quite arrives. But it’s never that long before the precision engineered routine is cantering down the next comic avenue and, generally, we follow.

Tonight’s show is bookended by its two best moments and it’s easy to see why The Pin have risen above a crowded market with their loopy brand of slick subversiveness. Retune the middle bit, and who knows which venue they’ll be selling out in 2015.