The Cambridge Footlights ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Cambridge Footlights are back with five of Cambridge’s best student comedians putting on a brand-new show featuring their funniest sketches.”

Something is reassuring about the Cambridge Footlights. For generations, they have been a breeding ground for some of Britain’s biggest comedy names, so walking into one of their shows comes with a certain expectation: you are about to see some seriously talented young comedians.

And there is certainly talent on display here. But The Cambridge Footlights Tour Show 2026 is a mixed assortment bag, with some sketches hitting the mark brilliantly while others seem to overstay their welcome.

Frankie Browne's direction is mostly good and makes effective use of the space. There is a clear understanding of the rhythm of a sketch show, and the performers are generally positioned well. However, at times the direction feels slightly confused, particularly when transitioning between ideas. The show knows what it wants to be, but occasionally seems unsure how best to get there.

LX is good and supports the sketches effectively, creating different environments and moods without drawing too much attention to itself. My main issue is the number of blackouts. After practically every sketch, we are plunged into darkness, and after a while the repetition becomes noticeable. A blackout can provide a useful reset, but when you have enough of them to make me wonder whether someone has accidentally turned the lights off, the device starts to lose its impact.

Sound is good, with some particularly enjoyable musical choices. The music helps to establish the mood of certain sketches and provides some welcome variety between the different pieces.

The book, credited across the writer-performers and shaped with the support of script editors Martha Alexander, Thomas Sweeney, Archie Allen, Mary Anna Im and Flora Maxwell, is where the evening becomes more inconsistent.

There are some genuinely brilliant sketches here. When the writing lands, it lands very well, with clever ideas and some excellent comic observations. Unfortunately, quite a few sketches fall flat.

There is also a sense of repetition. Some ideas feel like variations on jokes we have already seen, while others continue for longer than the material can sustain. Comedy is all about timing, and sometimes the biggest laugh would have come from ending a sketch thirty seconds earlier.

That became particularly noticeable when you could feel the audience beginning to lose interest. There is nothing more dangerous in a comedy show than making the audience start thinking about how long a sketch has been going on.

The performances from Abigail Kramer, George Dickenson, Jenny Jones, Reese Patel and Miles Hitchens are good, and it is obvious that all five performers have strong comedic instincts.

They have good chemistry and clearly understand how to play to an audience. Their comic timing is strong, and there are several moments where the whole company demonstrates exactly why the Footlights has such an impressive reputation.

A little more attention to the duration of individual sketches would make a significant difference. You can tell when an audience is with you, and you can also tell when they’re beginning to wonder whether there is a punchline hiding somewhere offstage.

That said, when the performers are given material that really works, they absolutely deliver it.

The Footlights has never been about producing a perfectly polished professional comedy show straight out of the box. It is about discovering the next generation of performers, writers and comedians, and something is exciting about watching that talent develop.

The Cambridge Footlights Tour Show 2026 certainly has flashes of that future. There are some very funny sketches, strong performances and enough genuinely clever material to make the evening worthwhile. But it also feels like a show that would benefit enormously from a ruthless editor with a stopwatch.

The talent is there. The comedy is there. I just wanted a little less of it.

Sometimes, in sketch comedy, knowing when to stop is the funniest joke of all.

The Theatre Reviewer verdict: ★★★

WHERE, WHEN & TICKETS

The Cambridge Footlights are performing at Pleasance Dome – Ace Dome (Venue 23), Potterrow, Edinburgh. The show runs for 60 minutes and is on at 5:20 pm on selected dates through 30 August 2026.

Book tickets for The Cambridge Footlights Tour Show 2026: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/cambridge-footlights-tour-show-2026