by ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Double acts in comedy tend to veer in of two directions: Clever or chaotic. BriTANick does both. Flawlessly.
As the Bri and Nick of BriTANick, Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher emerged on the sketch comedy scene with viral videos on YouTube in the late 2000s, which catapulted them to TV writing gigs such as Saturday Night Live. But their stage presence and craftsmanship demands that they be seen for themselves on their own merits.
In “Dummy,” their second Fringe run, they play with and subvert their perceived “power dynamic” where Brian is the straight man and Nick is the wacky guy, in a series of running bits that do not appear to be connected at all whatsoever until suddenly they’ve been connected the entire time. In that way, this hour sneaks up on you in a way their previous show did not.
Because of that, there may be brief intervals in which you’d certainly be justified in wondering if the hour had gone off the rails in the not-so-comedic way. I’d love to tell you how your worries are for nought, but it’s best if you discover what’s what organically. I heard an audience member after the show I attended criticizing Brian and Nick for being “too scripted.” That’s a take, to be fair. But I’m not so sure they could juggle as many pieces as they do, and allow some of them to fall and fail, and still get out of a Fringe hour alive. Sometimes you just need a puppet master pulling the strings to perfection.
BriTANick “Dummy” plays at Pleasance Courtyard during the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe
