A song about gloves and a skit featuring a rapping petrol pump and a cockney cash machine – Pappy’s sketch show was the height of silliness, writes Helen Kitchener.

The trio, Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry, bounded on to the stage and promised to whip the crowd into a Friday night frenzy but instead, by their own admission, bungled their intro.

Things picked up when they launched into the sketches, with highlights including Nick Clegg, David Cameron and George Osborne using playground tactics such as double dares and jinxes during a cabinet meeting.

There was also a funny song about a technophobe coming up against modern technology and a hilarious sketch which saw one good-natured lady from the audience playing the part in a musical montage accompanied by Billy Joel’s song Always a Woman to Me.

The group are talented performers – they acted, sang and played guitar and squeezed in some slapstick.

I’m not a big fan of sketch shows and I felt some parts fell a bit flat, such as the narrative linking it all together of the trio as old men reflecting on the gig. This didn’t overshadow their performance though, which was fun and energetic throughout.