Eric & Derek's Late Night Variety
Eric Amber & Derek Flores

Festival Centre Piano Bar
Sat 24 March
until Sat 31 March


After watching Adam Richard in the Belgian Beer Cafˇ (sin bin it as a Fringe venue) struggling to be heard over the pulsating sound system downstairs and a table full of rude patrons, it was a relief to move to the more civilized Festival Centre Piano Bar and be with an audience who bought tickets to see a show rather than to have their own table to quaff some Stella's.

'Eric & Derek's Late Night Variety' gives the impression of stage management, but it is all about improvisation. Using a Letterman style tonight show format Canadian hosts Eric and Derek treated the audience to their own brand of spontaneous comedy - and while this form of tightrope walking always has its dicey moments, the end result was worth the risk.

The opening monologue was given over to the boys' sardonic impressions of Adelaide featuring mullets, mega ambulances and "dicksmiths?" However, the show soared with the arrival of the guests, Fringe performers Cal Wilson and Stephen K Amos. Wilson proved more than a match for the boys in the role of battered younger sister to their brutal older brothers complete with bell and bugle. Amos was hilarious impersonating his formidable Jamaican mother terrorizing Eric as Stephen's favorite schoolteacher at a parent teacher meeting. The highlight was Amos and Eric in an extended roll play where loose pieces of papers marked with mandatory lines and picked up at random challenged even the sharpest of wits. Special mention should also go to the short film at intermission about Canadian spiders and the quality of their webs after taking illicit drugs.

The fact that Wilson and Amos enjoyed the experience as much as the audience was testimony to the boys' lack of ego - facilitating the laughs was what mattered, not who got them. Truth be told, this review is superfluous as Eric and Derek's next show will be completely new. I'd go again if I could.

Mal Byrne