A comedy troupe formed at the University of Winchester is returning to the city to play a special one-off show in September.
Biscuit Barrel will performing an extended version of their 2024 Edinburgh Fringe production, the 69-Sketch Show followed by a question-and-answer session at the city’s Theatre Royal on 25 September.
The team were formed at the University in 2016 and having survived personnel changes and the damage done to live entertainment by Covid are now building a reputation for themselves on the comedy circuit.
Biscuit Barrel is still 60 per cent Winchester as group leader James Horscroft, Daryl Reader and Capriella Monique are all alumni. The team is completed by Harry Brown and Lily Maryon.
Their trademark is rapid-fire sketches and their new show, which they will be performing at Edinburgh’s Gilded Balloon from 31 July to 26 August promises 69 sketches in 60 minutes.
This is a return to the Gilded Balloon (recognised as one of the Fringe’s top venues) after the team’s 2023 show which drew big audiences and rave reviews.
Sketches from the 2023 and 24 Edinburgh shows will feature in the Theatre Royal show. From enraged self-checkout machines to a slapstick routine told through beatbox, it's all inside this Barrel.
Group leader James Horscroft, who cites Rik Mayall as his comedy hero, founded Biscuit Barrel as part of a drama project while he was studying at Winchester and it’s been rolling ever since.
In recent years James has been helping fellow Biscuit and Youtube star Daryl rack up millions of hits on the internet.
James is confident the success he and Daryl have achieved online could point towards the revival of the sketch show format after years of domination by stand-ups.
“I think sketch shows are due for a comeback. In the noughties we had Catherine Tate and Little Britain but nothing really big on telly since, whilst there's so much on the live circuit.” said James.
“Most of the stuff you see on TikTok is basically a sketch,” said James. “Anyone scrolling through YouTube or TikTok is curating their own weird sketch show.”
To this end Biscuit Barrel has been posting a TikTok video every weekday in the run up to the start of their Fringe run. You can watch these at tiktok.com/thebiscuitbarrel or instagram.com/biscuitbarrelcomedy.
James is also helping to sow the seeds for a future crop of sketch comedians, having designed Biscuit Barrel’s ‘Sketch Comedy for Stage’ module for the Pauline Quirke Academy, which runs weekend performing arts training at 200 venues across the UK.
Helen Grime, Senior Lecturer in Drama at the University of Winchester, said: “It is fantastic that Biscuit Barrel is still going strong. We are delighted that they will be bringing their work back to Winchester at the Theatre Royal in the Autumn. It is wonderful to think that this work began as a second-year project module in the Department of Performing Arts at Winchester.”
Tickets for the Winchester show (which are being sold on the ‘Pick Your Price’ format) can be booked at Biscuit Barrel: The 69 Sketch Show | Theatre Royal Winchester
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