Tarot: Shuffle

Edinburgh Fringe – The Pleasance

Tarot: Shuffle is a sketch comedy show that uses the mystical power of tarot and fate to pull the hour together.

Using the repeating bit of the ‘algorithm,’ we are asked to complete a series of small challenges to choose between two cards – often opposites of each other – and the the chosen card’s corresponding sketch is then performed to us. As the sketches are themselves quite short,  between those moments of audience participation, is a standard prepared sketch (also based on a card) which seamlessly ties these two parts of the show together and gives the hour a sort of flow, instead of a stuttering that is normally associated with a constant starting and stopping. 

“The joy in just the  silly nature of the premise infuses every second of this show”

The sketches usually have very little to do with the card itself, but are thoroughly entertaining. They all have a similar wrapping; deceptively mundane situations with a sudden twist at the last moment that completely changes the context of the performance and shifts the scenario from ordinary to ridiculous. The results are absolutely hilarious, so that no matter how many times this structure is repeated, it’s still just as funny as it was the first time. The comedy comes from the group’s use of a range of subjects and comedy techniques, and it’s safe to say that no two jokes are the same. There’s an over exaggerated deliberateness to their performance, where the humour is in the obvious tongue-in-cheek hamming in the tone of each joke more than anything else. 

It’s a curious concept that becomes even more so enjoyable due to the  engaging nature of the performers, who have a knack for comedy and playing to the audience. Between the three of them they have an easy-going natural repartee that forms the bedrock of Tarot Shuffle and keeps us guessing throughout each sketch. 

Every sketch in Tarot Shuffle is incredibly fun to watch and it’s clear that with any combination, a good experience is to be had. The joy in just the  silly nature of the premise infuses every second of this show. Absolutely impossible to have a bad evening here. 

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz

Photo Credit: provided by Soho Theatre