Mug And Kettle, AKA Daniel Muggleton and Samuel Kettler, are like the slightly drunk guys you meet at a party who try to impress you with their wit.
They seem like nice, affable guys who have garnered a few laughs from friends over the years and decided to try their hand at stand-up. Full marks to them for trying, too.
It’s just that it falls a little flat.
They open with what they called the prelude, where they come onstage and warm up with a little banter. They chat, have a few laughs, fool around. It’s got potential, but it feels unrehearsed and a little messy.
Then they invite an audience member to come onstage and flip a coin. It really wasn’t their fault that this girl had never flipped a coin in her life, but it turned what should have been a simple decision as to who did his routine first into a bit of a debacle.
Coin flipped, decision made, and Samuel was up with his thoughts on life. His style is slow and ponderous and his spiel felt a little forced, like he was making up the anecdotes to go with the punchlines, which made it hard to really connect with him.
Then came Daniel, and his speed was better, but again, there was something lacking from the flow of his routine and the punchlines.
The overall feeling was a little formulaic, as if they had read a book on how to do stand-up. Step one: ask the audience a question. Step two: tell an anecdote, preferably with a punchline, relating to the question. Repeat until hour is up.
2/5 stars
Mug And Kettle Again played at the Sydney Comedy Festival from May 1 to 4.
