Sketch supergroup, Tarot, return to the Fringe this year with ‘Shuffle’, a new way of approaching sketch. Instead of performing a straight up, pre-planned sketch show, the audience have the opportunity to select from a pair of sketches which dictate the direction of the next section of the show. This shattering of the fourth wall is by now common on Tarot’s shows and is welcomed by the audience who eagerly text in their secrets at the show’s opening to be used later on.

From the opening moment this show is strong and we see Tarot settling in to their third Edinburgh show with real strength – it’s a joy to see.

By running ‘the algorithm’ (fortune teller, throwing paper in two different boxes, snatching sketch titles from the coat of Ed Easton as he runs up and down the stairs), the audience choose from two tarot cards and thus two different sketches. Each choice brings with it a secondary sketch, too, the Tarot cards whose names are given to the sketches displayed at the back of the stage, building an image of the show the audience have seen. It stands to reason, therefore, then that a rewatch of this show would pay dividends so all the sketches could be seen.

There are some very strong sketches here on a huge variety of themes and ideas. In particular a sketch about using the toilets on Virgin Trains raised an enormous laugh from the audience, as did one in which a father seeks answers from his child’s school.

However there is a risk that we might not see what Tarot themselves consider the ‘best’ sketches. Ed Easton announced at the final sketch of the night that this was his ‘favourite sketch’; his enthusiasm for getting a chance to perform it was unbridled. Perhaps it is a shame that audiences risk not seeing this – or the favourite sketches of the other members of the group – through the format of the show itself. This is not a weakness of the show at all, though, and I think is more likely to draw audiences back to see them again (though sell-out shows may well preclude this!).

Sadly, the pay-off doesn’t quite work, and the reveal at the end linking the opening of the show to the end works less well than it might. However, without a doubt it is a slick and funny hour from this accomplished trio, with some genuinely hilarious sketches throughout.

⭐⭐⭐⭐