Aggressive flyering is all part of the Fringe experience, but there aren't many companies who try to put the hard sell on once you're captive inside a theatre. Japanese circus troupe Cheeky*Park, however, want to woo us with sales pitches, business cards and handshakes, clambering their way through the crowd before they hit the stage for some office-based hijinks.
It's a warm start to a fun show, but unfortunately the pumped-up, chattering energy fizzles out pretty quickly after this and doesn't really return – at least not until a mildly surreal paper-storm ending.
Commuting, typing and pesky 5pm telephone calls lead the way into tricks and passages of rhythmic dance in this atypical business day. Competitive flirting segues nicely into a liquid-slick bit of coffee cup shuffling; later we're treated to some impressive juggling and a whimsical penultimate scene involving about a mile and a half of telephone cord. But there's potential for lots more physical comedy than we get – which is a shame because it's the troupe's strong point. A three-way adagio to Roxanne shows accomplished balancing, but can't compete with other circuses on offer this Fringe. This goes for most of the choreography, which far outweighs the clowning. In each case it drags the momentum down until it has been zapped for good.
Cheeky*Park have impressive credentials, display fabulous charisma when interacting with the audience, and it is their Edinburgh debut. Perhaps they were just having a bad day at the office.