What beats a night in in front of the TV? Simple – it’s As Seen On TV, a fresh new comedy show featuring two great guys, Fin McLachlan and Danny Sewell, and their troupe of friends Ava O’Brien, Tanner Devcich, Louis Hutching, Luci Elisara, and Finn Blackwell. If you don’t already love sketch comedy, you’ll be a convert once you see this talented bunch perform.

The writers Luci Elisara, Fin McLachlan, and Danny Sewell have created fresh new sketches, posing and answering interesting questions and launching us into a number of hypothetical scenarios. There’s lots of funny banter, some social commentary, good old-fashioned wordplay and delightful pop culture references throughout. In true As Seen on TV fashion, there’s even an ad break in the middle of the show.

The cast does a great job of bringing the stories to life. There are a few fourth wall breaks, helping to explore the conflict and touching relationships between the members of the cast, and the musicians the tech support have an important part to play in the overall narrative of the show as well. Everybody knows their lines and if there is a moment tonight that a line is fumbled or skipped, I certainly don’t notice it.

This show is high energy from second one, and the group manages to maintain that energy throughout and finish strong. I especially enjoy some of the enthusiastic and melodramatic moments from Danny Sewell. But it’s not all go – this show also knows how to take a moment to pause or slow down to emphasise a moment or convey emotion. You know that a group can do comedy well when there’s times that even a prolonged pause is getting laughs.

The costume and set are on point. The first thing you notice when you enter the theatre is the old-fashioned TV sitting front and centre, surrounded by an assortment of chairs. The set props are versatile and moved on and off stage throughout the show as necessary. The assortment of costumes helped to bring the characters to life.

These sketches wouldn’t be the success they are without music, lighting, and sound support. There’s a live band – Rory Johns, Pete Nola, Zoe Ioannou, Baileigh Sparkes and Will Jakicevich – and if you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy watching them play as much as you enjoy their contribution to the atmosphere of the show. 

The lighting and sound support is thanks to the tech guru Charleigh Griffiths. I enjoy the show’s use of voiceovers, and the pre-recorded music helps to set the scene, especially at moments when we are transported back in time. The lighting is well planned, and the use of colours and spotlights helps to set the mood or highlight certain characters.

Overall, this is an excellent show which is difficult to fault. There’s a good mix of live action scenes and pre-filmed on-screen content. Some sketches do work better than others, and there are times I find it difficult to follow along with what is happening, but I am always able to pick back up the narrative threads easily enough and I even love the parts that I don’t fully understand. There’s no doubting this bunch is talented – the writing and acting is compelling, and the music and lighting support is invaluable.

I would recommend this show to anybody who likes sketch comedy, live theatre, and a high energy show, and I can’t wait to see what the As Seen On TV crew do next.

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