This Review is from August 2024
Sullivan is the last man on earth, living underground. And he can’t find Rosie. Is she his wife? His sister? His co-worker? Where is she? – we do find out later, but for now it’s enough that she’s lost, and so Sullivan can start a sketch without her.
Sullivan starts: “Rosie hasn’t seen this sketch. She doesn’t like this idea, but she isn’t here right now, so that means we can do it… welcome to the show!” Classic double act stuff. This is Ernie Wise in a bunker…
Queue the music, he sings, “La, la, la, la, la, Sullivan’s handsome, Sullivan’s great, Sullivan’s smart, Sullivan’s a mate. Sullivan’s clever and well hung, he’s a friend to everyone… la, la, la, la, la…”
And almost immediately things take an unexpected dark turn. Fifty thousand extra terrestrials have invaded, and the prime minister can’t cope.
The extreme embellishing of everyday situations and the normalisation of extreme events, creates absurd chaos… it’s like a dreamscape in a grubby postpunk universe. Slapstick and clown are moulded with romcoms and sitcoms and TV weather reports. Unrequited love and transactional relationships. Alien hunters and a giant Eurasian Eagle Owl.
Somehow, they make it all make sense. The final ten minutes of Grubby Little Mitts pulls all these seemingly random elements together to build to a finale which is enormously satisfying.
This is a breakthrough piece of work.
Martin Walker
Interview with Rosie Nicholls and Sullivan Brown, recorded live from the Assembly Club Bar in Edinburgh.
Interview with Rosie Nicholls on the Grubbs Origin Story.
The Grubbs Linktree HERE
Reviews of Grubby Little Mitts: Eyes Closed, Mouths Open collated by the British Comedy Guide HERE
Tickets: HERE
The Grubbs Profile HERE
