Comedy review: Goose: Amphetawaltz

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Since bursting on to the Fringe in 2014 with their chaotic and peerlessly energetic style, the extremely giddy Goose '“ livewire Adam Drake under the direction of Ben Rowse '“have grown increasingly ambitious with their ideas and staging.

Assembly George Square Gardens (Venue 3)

JJJ

Returning to the mystery format of their debut, they’ve now gone full bore multimedia, adding a band, giant screen and plenty of other little prop quirks, throwaway jokes with two-for-one impact thanks to the ridiculous expense in including them. Sadly, while Amphetawaltz is sporadically fun throughout, all the bells and whistles don’t really elevate what made them so compelling in the first place, Drake’s magnetic, full-pelt monologuing. Indeed, he’s even somewhat inhibited here, the pace of the show unnecessarily slowed whenever an ill-conceived bit of audience interaction doesn’t catch fire. As per, the plot is a nonsensical thriller, with Drake accused of murdering his girlfriend Kath (Hughes, of regular collaborators Gein’s Family Giftshop), his confession seemingly recorded and damning, even as he struggles to recall the night leading up to her disappearance. But while there’s always been a twisted logic to Goose’s denouements, here there’s barely that, this bloated folly too loose a vessel for what’s essentially a series of entertaining sketches.

Until 27 August. Today 4:30pm.