Double act Sam Battersea and Emma Kilcoyne resemble a mild-mannered League Of Gentlemen more than they do a conventionally squabbling stage duo.
As with the League, they pitch their performances big without losing subtlety. In the opening sketch, Kilcoyne drags up to play a geography teacher who revives his youthful passion for the folk tambourine after being passed over for the deputy headship. Battersea - the blonde, willowy one - is exquisitely disappointed as his wife, traumatised after he runs her beloved dog over, her face masked by a pair of Deirdre Rachid glasses.
The writing - by Kilcoyne and her twin, Beth - is confident enough to give the show's tragicomic characters some space. So the laughs come from people we believe in, even feel for. There's the carpet seller who dresses up as
Pudsey Bear to steal from the Children in Need tin - unrepentant, because she was once a child in need too - before going on a talent show as a medieval singer called Lark. There's the Geordie dwarf pensioner who hustles her off the stage to do a terrifying stand-up turn.
Best of all are the housewives, who act out their fantasies of stardom in the living room with makeshift props - yes, there's satirical intent there, but it takes second place to acute characterisation-that zeroes in on friendship's frustrations. Most importantly, the laughs keep coming. Forget the gaudy name, Live! Girls! are an act with real depth - thoughtful, theatrical, but capable of great comic extravagance.
Until Aug 26, Pleasance, 60 The Pleasance,
3.35pm, £8 to £10, £7 to £9 concs (Sat limited availability).
Live! Girls!
