For his 2nd show of the festival yesterday DarkChatter Phil rushed across town from the Hilton Hotel (Frankenstein) to love

"Cream Tea & Incest" at the Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre.

Spotting that Peracals Productions had a second show we arranged to see "Ricky Riddlegang and his Riddlegang" together

at the same venue the following day. Clearly based on "Scooby Doo" and following Phil's joy at their previous show I duly

increased my expectations and was highly optimistic of a lovely silly, fun play. Sadly, we didn't really get it.

I do find the early afternoon shows are the ones I struggle the most likely to stay awake in, (this was my 3rd show of the

day). Unfortunately, despite being in the front row I could feel my eyes closing every now and again. Clearly, this is my

problem due to being tired but it only happens in shows that do not fully hold my attention.

It started promisingly enough with an impressive looking battery operated dog, silly scenery and a good theme tune. There are some funny moments and lively performances but, ultimately I found it too frantic and frenetic. There were times it needed to slow down rather than running at 100 miles an hour throughout. It became very wordy and plot driven and frankly it lost my attention.

This is a show with a good premise and with a few tweaks this could be very funny indeed. As we left the auditorium I remarked "you picked the wrong show".

Enough said.

Ricky Riddlegang and the Riddle Gang is at Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre until August 25th (not 15th)

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ricky-riddlegang-and-the-riddle-gang