The Double Act
31 January 2025
Arcola Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The Double Act, running at the Arcola Theatre until 22 February, is a dark comedy about comedians.
Welcome to Saltmouth by the Sea, a crumbling seaside resort town where the highest rated attraction on Tripadvisor is the local morgue. In this dreary place, on a stormy afternoon, Billy Bash reluctantly visits his former show partner Cliff Biddle. Struggling with a fading career as “Britian’s third most offensive comedian”, Billy came here to close out his tour with one last show, but upon being contacted by Gulliver, Cliff’s lodger, is compelled to look in on a man with whom he severed ties a long time ago. Decades ago Billy and Cliff were the double act success on their daytime comedy show Biddle & Bash, a relic of times gone past where piling onto marginalised groups in the name of a good laugh was the order of the day. When the show ended in a blast of controversy, Billy went on to become a somewhat successful comedian, while Cliff went to prison for very public indecency. Now, years later, Billy is confronted with the declining mental health of his former show partner, and the repercussions of his own actions in the past.
Set in the very grubby and run down living room of Cliff’s maisonette, which looks to have been decorated in the 70s, well used and ill maintained every since, The Double Act is despicably hilarious dark comedy that leans heavily into the pubic controversies around public figures known from British television before the internet, as well as more recent discussions about the limits and responsibilities of comedy. While it starts slowly, it very quickly becomes apparent that there are a lot of layers to the increasingly unhinged plot.
All three characters in this fast-paced show are bonkers in their very own ways, dancing around each other with witty tirades and priceless debates as the past and its deep effects becomes clearer. The Double Act is a brilliantly morbid satire, filled with very dark moments spun into the funniest, laughter inducing story. Beautifully offensive and deeply self-aware, it’s a fantastic production that will entertain as much as horrify.
