Comedy review: Alan Shed’s Music, Comedy and Everything Else Interactive Quiz Show, Just the Tonic @ The Mash House, Edinburgh

Do you like quizzes? Do you like comedy? At least one of your needs will be meet at Alan Shed’s Music, Comedy and Everything Else Interactive Quiz Show, which does what it says on the tin – or, in this case, the tablet.

Quizzical comedy with Alan Shed.

Alan Shed’s Music, Comedy and Everything Else Interactive Quiz Show, Just the Tonic @ The Mash House, Edinburgh * * *

For Shed – or Alan Leach to give him his real name – has patented an online multi-player quiz format and his quiz-ready audience are the eager guinea pigs. The system is easy to use – thankfully, as Leach’s scoring system is pretty arcane.

His day (night?) job is playing drums for indestructible Britpop second leaguers Shed Seven – who had more hits than you think – but he ranges all over the musical map for his questions, with sidebars in comedy and random trivia. As always, it’s easy when you know the answer and a head-scratcher when you don’t.

Teams of up to four sit in rows – sod the conferring, just hit that hand-held device and hope that Leach won’t spend too long on his working men’s club-standard jokes which are so knowingly bad that they are almost groan-worthily good.

All quizzing highs and lows are here. Despite feisty challenges from puntastic teams Eddie Quizzard and the Return of the Quizzie Rascals, the unassailable Various Artists romped to victory on this occasion. We’ll be back to tackle that difficult second album.

Until 25 August

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