If Frankie Boyle is the champion of outrage and Ricky Gervais the destroyer of Hollywood ego, then Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are the clown princes of mild annoyance. Their first tour in four years is playing to packed houses but packed houses who like their comedy cosy. Frighten the horses? This duo would not even momentarily distract them from their nosebags.
The pair repeatedly play safe but they do know how to craft a line when discussing staples such as budget airlines, the Olympics or the variable weather: "We are the only country in the world with a climate with attention deficit disorder," says adenoidal Eric Idle lookalike Punt. Dennis, the higher profile half of the team thanks to panel games and the sitcom Outnumbered, says less while hogging the limelight with some precise physical humour which occasionally outstays its welcome.
Yet despite an air of predictability this is a gently funny 6.30pm-on-Radio-4 affair, with gags about class and England being rubbish punctuated by sketches which, though uneven, vary the pace. It is hardly brutal satire but it works. Just one proviso. Dennis should stop doing his velociraptor impression. Although it prompts laughs it also underlines the fact that this veteran twosome do seem like comedy dinosaurs.
Also on Thursday at The Gulbenkian, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NB. Information: 01227 769 075, rbmcomedy.com. Touring until March 6.
Punt & Dennis: They Should Get Out More
Epsom Playhouse
Ashley Avenue, KT18 5AL
