Pleasance Courtyard
Aug 22-28 (21:10)

Whow, Whow, Whow. Edinburgh Fringe sees the return of the magnificent seven ‘Showstoppers’ and their Jazzy Blues band. At 9.10pm every night until August the 28th, Something for the Weekend unleash their explosive and highly popular show Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. Like sardines caught up in a trawler’s net, the audience were wriggling with anticipation as the compere lit up the stage with his humour and wit. Scanning the audience like a barcoded steak going through a supermarket, the hunt was on for some subject material for tonight’s proceedings.

Hurling suggestions from all corners of the auditorium, the crowd was soon whipped up into a frenzy. With more ideas than Donald Trump has citations, they finally decided on a Supermarket or to be more precise a Big Tesco’s Supermarket, as their backdrop to this evening shenanigans. So how does Tesco become a musical? Well, we were about to find out. A single word can manifest into a single concept and the results with Showstopper can be miraculous.

Heading down aisle 7, the fruits of their labours were about to change their lives. Love, heartache, relationships, cheating and nearly every other human feeling was brutally attacked with improvised perfection. Thinking on your feet is a must-have skill for your average employee, but this cast are just genius. Like a stick of dynamite blowing up an unwanted tower block, Showstoppers explodes into an inferno of hilarious jokes and gags, leaving the now well-oiled audience in stitches of laughter. With Showstoppers there is no stopping. Sketch after sketch, this show picks up speed like a runaway train and has no intention of stopping at any stations, unless it has a Tesco, a Big Tesco.

This a remarkable show that brings much welcom’d consequences for a now exhilarated audience. Songs that incorporated Lidls, Waitrose, glasses of Presco and insecurities were gulped up in an instant by the hand clapping and cheering punters. Fruit can be bruised if touched too heavily but no other show at the Edinburgh Fringe can touch Showstoppers, certainly no bruising here.

This piece of comedy & musical theatre is straight shooting, straight talking, dirty, funny, honest and delivered with professional venom. Life isn’t a barcode or a trial, its everyday living, and Showstoppers The Musical reminds you to Live your Life. If all the cast members were Dart Players then they would be hitting a Bullseye every time. If its fun your looking for then this is the show for you – Pure excellence !!

Raymond Speedie