EDINBURGH 2025: Review: THE DURHAM REVUE: SKETCH MARKS THE SPOT, Underbelly

You know those people begging you to take a flyer in Edinburgh throughout August, the ones whose very hopes and dreams rely on you taking a flyer and even considering going to see their show? Those are students! The bread and butter of the Fringe. Or, certainly, one sandwich atop a platter, with student groups specialising in comedy, drama and musicals making up a sizeable portion of the festival programme every year.

As far as comedy goes, there are simply too many to choose from. You have the big hitters, the Cambridge Footlights and the Oxford Revue. There are also the smaller, yet respectable, troupes such as the St. Andrews Revue, the Leeds Tealights and the Manchester Revue. Then there are the old reliables, who come back to the Fringe and never fail to entertain. That is where the Durham Revue fits in (p.s. If you are exhausted just from reading that list of sketch comedy troupes, believe me, there are so many more).

The Durham Revue have proven themselves as one of the best student comedy groups in the UK in the past, but every year brings a new show and yet another chance to prove themselves to a whole new audience. 

Admittedly, this year's collection of sketches isn’t quite as successful for the group as previous shows, like their 2023 effort Death on the Mile, which was a particular highlight in the Durham Revue oeuvre (a revouvre, if you will). Whilst the group of mainly new performers certainly bring the same charisma and energy as previous iterations of the institution, the writing doesn’t feel quite as inspired.

One particular issue throughout the show is in the execution of the punchline, with more than a few sketches building to a big joke that fails to garner many big laughs. There is a running joke with a Bull apologising for ruining a china shop that never really lands, and the Gollum sketch doesn’t fare much better either.

There are still plenty of laughs to be had, make no mistake about it. Most of the weaker jokes and punchlines do come in the first half of the show, with the latter half highlighting the talents of each performer. One of the best-written sketches of the show imagines three best friends who all think they might be seeing the same guy. The twist of the sketch is both absurd and hilarious. 

Equally so, a highlight of every Durham Revue show comes in the form of a sketch that requires heavy audience participation, with the performers improvising well with those they bring up on stage and never failing to get a big laugh from the audience as a result. Unfortunately, after the rocky first half, things wrap up just as they feel like they are getting going. 

Ultimately, the latest show from the Durham Revue fails to capture the brilliance that the group have shown in previous shows. However, Sketch Marks the Spot is no slouch, either. Though every joke may not land, and the overall laughs may be fairly light, the number of laughs to be had is still relatively high. Yet again, Durham’s finest prove to be a reliable pick at the Fringe.

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