Review: Early Edition

There's something slightly odd about being at the Norwich Playhouse in the middle of the day for comedy. But luckily there were many other funny things about Early Edition that made up for the disconcerting timing.

Early Edition is a topical comedy panel show hosted by Marcus Brigstocke and Andre Vincent - known locally for appearing in the Theatre Royal's pantomime - joined in Norwich by Rob Rouse and Carrie Quinlan.

The show is knowingly ramshackle, with the panellists stumbling over the day's papers for jokes, funny stories, and hopefully lots of witty asides.

The Eastern Daily Press and Evening News came in for attention of their own, with Vincent particularly taken by a story on Yarmouth's circus becoming animal-free - a motif that became a running joke during the show.

Rouse was at a slightly too high a pitch for some of the show - swearing in stand up is fine, but not at lunch time - with Quinlan providing a mix bag of contributions. The show is really Brigstocke and Vincent's though.

Freeing yourself from scripted material is always a risk, but these two are masters of the art and riff well off each other too, having now worked together for seven years.

Well worth getting out of bed for on a Saturday morning.