Diet of Worms: Friends of the Puffincat

“Wailing banshees” doesn’t go far enough to describe just how basely disgusting this troupe’s rendition of ‘The Puffincat National Anthem’ is. In fact, in the first minute of Diet of Worms' latest offering you will be excused for working under the hideous misapprehension that this is just another crappy amateur sketch show. However, as talents start to emerge that transcend what has to be said is a pretty poor introduction, you quickly realise that amateurs these guys are not.

To describe the Puffincat’s origins and place in this world would be to give the entire game away for what is one of the most inventive and pleasingly madcap sketch show themes at this year’s Fringe. Suffice to say, Puffincat’s hilarious misadventures aboard a Soviet frigate – both animated and live – won’t leave you in any doubt of the true genius that this group are capable of.

Dodgy Russian accents and a slapdash wardrobe all add to the gloriously Cooper-like shoddiness. Unfortunately, as is common in many a sketch show, a few skits do fall flat and leave you wondering whether a more ruthless script edit would have benefited the overall impression. That being said, it is certain that for anyone who sees this show, Puffincat – the puffin, the cat, the legend – will be one of their most abiding memories of the Fringe.