Comedy review: Lola & Jo: Escape, Assembly George Square, Edinburgh

With the clanging shut of their shipping container venue, Lola Stephenson and Jo Griffin make the perhaps justifiable assertion that sketch comedy is currently so unfashionable, it's been eclipsed by the vogue for escape rooms.

Lola & Jo: Escape, Assembly George Square (Venue 8)

Lola & Jo: Escape, Assembly George Square, Edinburgh * * *

And with that in mind, they've packaged their skits in a meta-narrative the audience must fathom their way out of. Starting from the premise that “sketch duo Lola & Jo” have disappeared from the flat where they write, the audience must piece together their whereabouts, guided by Lesley (Stephenson) and Jackie (Griffin), from a series of clues hidden in the sketches. So far, so very high-concept. And it's further complicated by by-the-book Lesley and the more spontaneous, disruptive Jackie commenting on and betraying tensions within the Lola & Jo dynamic.

In practice, it's a lot less mind-bending than that sounds. And the sketches range from the amusing to the very funny indeed, with both performers capable comic actors, who entertainingly spark off each other, a highlight being two desperate, would-be tenants babbling their way out of joining a flatshare. Still, there's just so much window dressing and back and forth between realities that it can't help but check the show's momentum.

Until 25 August

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