Mel & Sam: The Platonic Human Centipede at Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
★★★★ Mel & Sam: The Platonic Human Centipede | Pleasance Courtyard
Queer musical comedy madness which will either leave you aching with laughter or reaching for the aspirin (or both).
Mel and Sam’s 2025 fringe show arrives with a disarmingly simple conceit: that the two self-identify as being in a platonic co-dependent relationship, and that there are plenty of other combos which are surprisingly joined at the hip – or, per the title of the show, sewn arse to mouth.
And so, through a series of supremely high-energy, wall-of-sound comedy musical numbers, the infectiously enthusiastic duo attempt to convince us that a seemingly random selection of (often dated) pop-culture icons are – and should always be – inextricably linked.
References range across Twilight, The Simpsons, Mr and Mrs Claus, Robert and Bindi Irwin, Britney Spears… it’s a lot! Mel and Sam give it everything, with quick costume changes and props dragged from behind the black curtain in delightfully DIY fashion. The songs are hilarious, though performed at such speed and with such overlapping-vocal intensity that it’s almost exhausting to give them your full attention. For a show which seems almost purposely designed to split it’s audience in half marmite-style, however, there’s a winning charm and relentless joy in performance which should win over even the most curmudgeonly of boomers who find themselves subjected to this hour of mayhem.
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