Little Lark of London

“The seagulls were circling, all lookin’ for the big chip”

Written by Hughie Shepherd-Cross, Gang Bang tells the story of a Sicilian Mafia man, Don Lambrini (Fred Trenholme), who thinks he is on a boat going to America but actually ends up on an all-inclusive Thomas Cook cruise to Blackpool. It is here that “Big Don” forms his empire with his son, Jack (Fabian Bevan) and a clueless henchman-like character, Aldente, or “Al” (Hannah Johnson). When Don is killed by rival mobster Fray Bentos (also Trenholme), Jack and Al begin to battle over who will take over the Lambrini gang, terrorising Blackpool and its residents. 

Trenholme takes on nearly all of the minor characters in the story, giving each new character ridiculous traits and accents to differentiate them from one another. His portrayal of Bentos, the “sexual deviant,” is one of the highlights of the show, as well as the role of the priest performing Big Don’s funeral rites, reading from a non-religious book – “The Yellow Pages, Plumber, Section Two.” One of my personal favourites was the literal personification of death, known in the show as “Jim Reaper.” 

Some of the best bits in the show take the form of overdramatic monologues, mostly those performed by Bevan as Jack Lambrini, who has a tendency to step to the edge of the stage and give some of the most dramatic performances of the show, seemingly unaware that characters around him are able to see (and, more crucially, hear) him. It is in one of these monologues where it appears that Gang Bang is about to become a musical, an idea that is immediately shot down by the actors, one of them claiming, “Not today!”

Quite a few jokes follow a similar format in which they feel like they’re going to lead up to something but end up being simple. A prime example of this is the joke about Al becoming a true mob boss, with Jack saying, “Al had gone bad like milk . . . Gone bad.” There are also several based on acronyms, including several referring to the FBI (I do wonder why they chose an American organisation over a British one like MI5), including the publishing company, Fiona Brown Independent. Another running joke throughout Gang Bang is the mobsters having a hatred for lifeguards, something that never pays off which is a bit disappointing. 

The accents were questionable at best, but accuracy doesn’t really matter in a comedy show like this, and sometimes the over-the-top voices worked perfectly for the ridiculous situations the mobsters found themselves in. Sometimes the accents appeared to veer into New York territory, an interesting choice as the Lambrini family never actually made it to the States (there were a few times in which I was reminded of Jeremy Jordan’s accent in Newsies). The set is very simple, as expected from a show coming from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with only a few tables and chairs and a music stand with cards indicating where in the world the scenes are taking place. 

Ultimately, Gang Bang is a silly hour of comedy that makes fun of the mob movie genre while still creating a story of its own. The three actors throw themselves into their characters, which elevates the show. Shepherd-Cross has written a solid script that, with a little more plot and development, could really become a fantastic work. 

Gang Bang ran on 17 and 18 October at the Pleasance London.