You Talkin' To Us? ★★★★

“You talking to me?” is perhaps one of the most famous lines from 70s cinema. As Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro electrified the screen with his improvised conversation with his reflected self in the mirror. That cinematic moment has become an enduring pop culture staple, instantly parlaying perceived disrespect or confronting an imagined enemy. It has been reworked in works as diverse as The Simpsons and La Haine. Now it’s the turn of local Edinburgh-based theatre company Authentically False Productions to paraphrase the line as the title of their new show, You Talkin’ To Us?

Fresh from drama school graduation, they made their Edinburgh Fringe debut last year, with their show Cornermen being much championed by The Recs. Will their sophomore effort prove as successful?

The plot of You Talkin’ To Us, written by Daniel Sanchez O’Brien, centres around three useless gangsters. Their level of incompetence makes Harry Lyme and Marv Murchins, the two burglars in Home Alone, seem like criminal masterminds. The hapless trio is unhappy with their lot. Overworked and underpaid by their despotic boss, they decide to form a union and hire an unemployed law graduate to guide them in the quest for better working conditions. But there’s a twist around the corner.

It’s immediately noticeable how much the three performers in Cornermen have grown in confidence and stage presence in just a year. Mitchell and Bart (played brilliantly by Aaron Hogg and Liam Scobie) are planning a heist on an old woman’s house in Thornwood, a suburb in Glasgow’s West End. Their opening scene of this comedy farce sizzles with outstanding comic timing and great chemistry between the two as they argue about the job. Mitchell doesn’t want to hold the gun: “I’ve got a twitchy finger.” Bart bemoans the fact that his partner in crime is wearing his balaclava inside out. When Mitchell takes it off, Bart’s disbelief is hilarious: “Are you wearing a second balaclava?”

Unsurprisingly, the heist goes tits up in more ways than one.

Meanwhile, the third wheel of the gang, Murray (Callum Latham), is the self-proclaimed Big Picture Guy – which seems to mean he tries not to get his hands dirty, preferring to strategise back at base. Latham is a terrifically skilled comic performer, wringing laughs out of double takes or simply timing a line to perfection.

O’Brien’s script is packed with big belly laughs, great visual gags and plenty of sharp one-liners. For a farce, there is an attempt to present some clever reversals. Where it needs a little refining is in the narrative transitions and clarity. It leans towards the televisual screenplay rather than a theatrical script.

In this, their second Fringe show, Authentically False Productions are already beginning to develop their own trademark brand: the sense of camaraderie, some physical knockabout, even an incongruous but entertaining daft dance. To take it to the next level, they need to smooth how these elements fit together to tell the story rather than throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks.

The show is co-directed by Callum Latham (yes, he performs and directs) and Kirsty Morrison. While individual scenes and moments are thrillingly staged, the shift between scenes can be a little stop-start, losing momentum in the process. There are points where volume is mistaken for energy and leaves the emotional rise and fall of the piece nowhere to go. Perhaps the biggest criticism of direction is that while characters are all delivering on their own terms. Kirsty MacVicar is wonderfully vulnerable and commanding as Mary, their would-be legal advisor. Daniel John Doherty gives a fine rendition of slightly unhinged menace as gang boss Mike. The issue is the ensemble’s styles are very different from each other, producing a tonal awkwardness at key moments.

Having said that, these faults are minor and correctable in comparison to what is achieved in their hour onstage. You Talkin’ To Us is likeable, energetic and hugely entertaining. It would be criminal to underestimate the potential in Authentically False Productions!