exit strategy's How to Win a Gameshow
★★★★★
Five Star Pick
★★★★★ Five Star Pick
Part bleakly dystopian satire, part interactive improv comedy, any description I give of How to Win a Gameshow will fail to do it justice.
There's a vaguely apocalyptic feel to it, with slight echoes of Mitchell & Webb's mid-catastrophe quiz show sketch, but there's nothing as on-the-nose here as The Event, and as the company hail from across the pond I doubt it's an influence. There is something oddly British about this piece, however - perhaps it's the tightly wound awkwardness, the Kafkaesque bureaucracy, or just the general discomfort of being clicker-trained on live TV, but it definitely feels more akin to the forgotten end of early ’80s Channel 4 than the razzle-dazzle exuberance of a primetime American game show. Whatever it is, it’s hilarious, weird and slightly terrifying.
The cast are uniformly excellent and adept at dealing with any and all curveballs the audience might throw. There's dancing, there's singing, there's a very tantalising cash prize..
I'm loath to say much more for fear of spoiling it, but I can't recommend this show enough. Go for a shot at the money; stay for the hope of ever leaving.
★★★★★
