Kaile, Keeble & Kuntz at the Etcetera Theatre

Luke Kaile, Rich Keeble & Roger Kuntz present an all new comedy show for Camden Fringe 2014. The mixture of stand-up, sketches and videos, titled Kaile, Keeble & Kuntz, makes for a fast-moving performance, peppered with misunderstandings and awkward moments.

The lights go down as Rich Keeble and Luke Kaile take to the stage with vastly contrasting introductions. Whilst Kaile’s is understated, Keeble’s is drawn out and over-egged, to say the least. Around half the audience can expect to go home with a photograph of the comic, bearing the message, “Thanks for watching! – TV’s Rich Keeble.” But where is Roger Kuntz? It soon transpires that Kuntz is no more (and probably entirely fictional). Having handed out flyers for the group’s performance at a Wu Tang Clan gig the previous night, with their name abbreviated to KKK, he is now a cadaver.

The show is full of similarly distasteful and somewhat surreal situations. Mock-adverts for placenta spaghetti sauce and a rom-com titled Incest are illustrative of the writers’ attempts to be edgy and offensive. It was, however, left to guest comic (and Roger Kuntz’s replacement for the night) Miranda Dawe to strike at the funny bones of the audience, drawing forth gasps and raucous laughter when she described her career as being “as dead as that guy from Glee”. The rest of the time, the audience needed some encouragement to laugh at the right moments.

Overall the show lacked snap and frequently seemed baggy, due to the comedic timings being slightly off. Whilst it wasn’t the most original show on the circuit, it certainly wasn’t the worst. In amongst the Nazi Germany and homoerotic jokes were glimmers of potential that deserve to be nurtured and supported. With a little pruning Kaile, Keeble & Kuntz could one day be a really great show.

Chris Alton

Kaile, Keeble & Kuntz is at the Etcetera Theatre from 28^th – 30^th July 2014 as part of Camden Fringe 2014. For further information or to book visit the festival’s website here.