Dark Knuts (2009), Review

The Chestnuts series has never quite achieved the mainstream name recognition of The Dim Sum Dollies but it is nonetheless reliable for more than a few laughs if you are looking for a comedy sketch show that is distinctly not for a family audience. Chestnuts skews younger - at one point, Joanthan Lim quips that the audience won't get one of the jokes because it relies on an 80s reference - so expect laughter built around contemporary pop culture ("Lea Salonga" singing Rihana's Umbrella, for example) and for things to get more than a little cheeky: there's an incredible amount of sex and swearing, for one thing - you'll never look at Wall.E and Eva the same again, believe me. As always, the show could do with some tightening, Dark Knuts being very hit and miss but, to be fair, when it hits, you'll laugh till you cry. I especially enjoyed the parodies of Mamma Mia! and The Little Nyonya and the newsroom segments. The Bats and The City and Twi Knight mash-ups, not so much. The addition of puppetry (inspired by the Avenue Q set-pieces) to the team's colourful repertoire of irreverent spoofs and songs works extremely well, with the team's deft handling of the puppets particularly impressive.