This, young, newly-formed sketch trio – made-up of former Cambridge Footlighters Alex MacKeith, Ben Pope and Jamie Fraser – show plenty of promise, but they can’t quite keep up the momentum in their debut Fringe hour.
Princes of Main make a strong first impression. Their opening skit, brainstorming titles for a new rom-com, is intricately written, and it’s followed by a run of fresh, crafty sketches full of gags for the Y-generation. There’s elegant writing at work in their scenes about a Starbucks employee’s revenge and a support group for people with two first names. MacKeith, Pope and Fraser have a relaxed, easy chemistry, too – they allow each skit to flow smoothly into the next without pausing to take a breath.
But then, halfway in, the quality dips. A recurring dinosaur sketch wasn’t funny the first time, an art lecturer’s catchphrase begins to grate and an apparently ad-libbed section just feels forced. The trio’s one-note performances don’t help things, either – without any shift in tone the sketches start to feel somewhat repetitive.
Still, there’s plenty to enjoy in Princes of Main’s YouTube-ready skits. They just run out of steam too soon.