***
What's in a name? Quite a lot if it means you end up seeing the wrong show. A couple of years ago I enjoyed a show by sibling duo Toby and heard that they'd changed their name this year. For some reason I thought they were now called That Pair and scooted along to That Pair's show. I was wrong, but please sir, I have an excuse. Toby – keep up – has now been rechristened Thrice, but That Pair is also the result of a rebranding – they used to be That Silky Pair (nothing to do with stalwart stand-up Silky).
Got that? Good. And so is That Pair. Kathryn Bond (dark-haired, boisterous) and Lorna Shaw (skinny, blonde, wannabe sophisticated) are a classic knockabout double act, with Shaw trying to play it straight and failing gloriously and Bond going to extrovert, clownish extremes. There is absolutely nothing original whatsoever about them, but their chemistry is so good and their material quite often very good that it really doesn't matter.
The conceptual theme of the show, Never Liked Her Anyway, is that the duo is at their late agent's memorial service and as well as playing themselves they play all the guests. This gives them a convenient TV commissioner-pleasing opportunity to demonstrate their range of accents and quickfire versatility. It's the songs that make them stand out. Highlights including a country duo (shades of Loretta Maine), a beehived sixties pop combo and a number about online dating which is hardly revolutionary but delivered with total mad-eyed commitment.
Lively rapport, easy banter and classic cod-bickering between the Essex duo makes the hour fly by. Despite Shaw being the notional straight half she also has her comic moments and is very good in an improvised skit chatting up a member of the audience. This is not remotely as confrontational as it sounds, merely all good, jolly japes. Bond is much more over the top, happy to play the fool and fling her knickers in the air.
At times the narrative arc seems to be forgotten but they usually manage to return to it with a smart gag, such as a solemn reading from a guest which turns out to be a tedious bank statement. It's a little bit smutty, but mostly just old school, mildly warped fun. While they dabble in a little bit of inappropriateness and the occasional filthy innuendo this could very nearly be a family show. Though maybe not one to go to if you have just had a death in the family.
