Casual Violence: The Great Fire of Nostril

Stepping into a Casual Violence show is a lot like entering Arkham Asylum, as the door is wedged firmly shut behind you. The multi award-winning quintet behind last year’s spectacularly macabre House of Nostril reanimate the bizarre and spooky sketches they are now so well known for in The Great Fire of Nostril.

We are introduced to a madhouse of characters, loosely strung together from interweaving storylines. When conjoined hitmen kill Nostril’s father, he vows for vengeance. But if they split, his task of hunting them down becomes much trickier. Will he have revenge, or will he find the cure for death to bring his father back to life? Along the way, the group accompanies us through a labyrinth of riotous narrative detours that are as surreal as they are polished.

It’s quite marvellous to witness the range of themes and comedy styles embedded in the company’s work. Live, eerie piano music performed by Ben Champion sets a villainous, gothic tone, while the actors’ demented laughs and twisted intentions recall the terrifyingly dark protagonists of Victorian literature. It is their brand of hilarious horror that is so inventive, so explicit and graphic, yet so infectious. The fact that they also produce Internet web series, radio sitcoms and podcasts is as telling of their professionalism as it is their myriad talents.

As their show comprises largely sketch comedy, there are moments when certain routines go awry, or fail to follow an hysterical prior scene. However, the journey we are taken on is exquisitely imaginative, alive with detail, conflict and comedy, to the point where we can overlook such misgivings.