Edinburgh review: Brexit the Musical (C Venues)

Walk a length of the Royal Mile and you'll soon see that Brexit and Trump are common fare at this year's Fringe. It's to be expected, the Brexit referendum took place just before the last Fringe, so writers have had 12 whole months to pen something for this year's festival. Unfortunately this political pantomime by Brexit lawyer Chris Bryant needs a lot longer in development to get my vote.

The basic premise is thus; Brexit has happened and the Tories are left shellshocked by the result. So far, so true, but then everything takes a bizarre turn when they realise that the only person with a plan for this outcome is George Osborne. The former Chancellor has since gone AWOL and it's up to Boris Johnson and his minion sidekick Michael Gove to embark on a quest to find Gideon and save the day.

Yes it's funny to see bozo Boris singing and dancing in Union Jack boxer shorts, and yes it is quite amusing to have David Cameron on the same stage as a blow up piglet, and Theresa May tottering on in leather trousers and leopard print kitten heels does rouse the crowd. But there's simply nothing clever about it and when Andrea Leadsom (who is she?) sings her third song, I find myself longing for my own Brexitexit.

The show is saved from complete disaster by some genuinely good impressions of Cameron and BoJo, and Jeremy Corbyn's song about Glastonbury Festival is by far the stand out number.

Like Boris' big red bus of broken promises, Fringe-goers will be drawn to this show by its name plastered around the city – it's already sold out the first two weeks of the festival – and many will enjoy the easy potshots, of which there are a lot, but I imagine quite a few will be left disappointed and wanting to leave.

Brexit the Musical runs at C Venues at 18.55 until 28 August.

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