Shoddy by Name, Shoddy by Nature (In a Good Way) – A Shoddy Detective and the Art of Deception review

 I recently saw the show (deep breath) A Shoddy Detective and the Art of Deception (ASDatAoD from this point on; Shoddy Theatre seem to be getting inspiration for their show titles from Voloz Collective or Mischief Theatre)

WARNING: MINOR OUT-OF-CONTEXT SPOILERS BELOW

ASDatAoD is a reimagining of the show A Shoddy Detective (and you couldn't keep the title why?) It was debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018, but the newer version has been improved (I don't know exactly how; I didn't see the original)

As I mentioned in my review of TMWTHKTM (please don't make me type the whole title), I don't want to compare the companies, but the fact is that there are a lot of similarities with some of my favourite theatre companies. Most obviously (other than using the idea of ridiculously long titles), only four actors are playing (I think) 11 parts, similar to a New Old Friends production.

However, unlike most New Old Friends productions, two of the actors only play one character each and remain onstage for almost the entire show (they leave during the interval and one of them isn't onstage at the start of the play). This makes the costume changes even more manic as the two remaining actors play 10? parts between them.

They also did a number of deconstructive jokes, for example one character is talking about not paying attention while impersonating someone, after which he completely loses his Scottish accent. There were a couple of instances of wearing the wrong costume as well, and I think those were deliberate but I can't tell for sure.

Some other highlights were some slapstick straight out of TPTGW, a recurring gag with one character always leaving via the window (sometimes falling, sometimes pushed and at least once diving out deliberately).

There was a lot of, as Nicepool would say, 'gently tapping the fourth wall'. This is something I'm starting to get into over 'breaking' it.

One of these was someone saying "this isn't one of your Shoddy Detective plays!" [wink to audience]

There are a lot more lowbrow humour 'rude' jokes, but they're all done cleverly, in a style which often reminded me of Police Squad. I'm not apologising for this comparison because of this.

There are many twists and eventually it turns out that all the characters are guilty of something (cue confusing scene of detective lining up all 10 suspects, but only two at a time).

And yes, I worked out where the painting had been hidden straightaway, although I didn't work out the culprit until after the reveal.

Want to see Shoddy Detective yourself? Click here for the rest of their tour dates (12 venues left until 2nd July 2025)