Review - Nimmo Twins: A Load of Old Squit, Norwich Playhouse

Now in their 25th year of performing, the Nimmo Twins are something of a Norfolk institution, and judging by the reaction of the Norwich Playhouse crowd have lost none of their charm over the years.

This current run by double act Karl Minns and Owen Evans is something of a ‘best of’ review, bringing together old material and characters with some new sketches ahead of a planned new show in the summer.

That does mean that some of the material is pretty niche and requires an encyclopaedic knowledge of the county’s characters and history to fully enjoy, but the series of keenly-observed sketches also has something to offer even newcomers to Norfolk – mostly insults to be fair, but then the whole point of this show is to poke fun and laugh at ourselves.

The humour is both base and elevated – Minns playing ageing council estate mum She Go gets as many laughs for jokes about sex (and particularly a sex education class at the “Hurt Academy”) as for more intricate puns on the Norfolk accent in a double-hander sketch with Evans.

The two are clearly enjoying themselves as much as the audience, with Minns noticeably corpsing several times during the show.

Some sketches do show their age and its possible that the attitudes to sexuality that underly some, even when laced with irony, might be better left in the past, but on the whole the audience lapped up the largely affectionate riffs on inbreeding, outsiders, and Norwich City, among others.

It is a treat for Norfolk to have such a strong writing and performing partnership to call its own, so if you need a laugh in these dark times – and who doesn’t? – get yew up city bor, and get yew a ticket afor it’s gorn.

A Load of Old Squit continues at Norwich Playhouse until January 23. The Nimmo Twins return to the Playhouse with a new show, Holt? Who Goes There? in August