Story Platform at the Gilded Saloon ★★★★

In a laudable new joint endeavour from Gilded Balloon, Junction Films and Screen Scotland, this monthly sketch show brings together some of Scotland’s most promising writers and performers to create and deliver a show in a single week. It’s a format that prioritises speed, enthusiasm and opportunity over polish, and one that could easily trip up the performers (Rebecca Bain, Kim Blythe, Amanda Dwyer, Maddie Fernando, Alana Jackson, Eleanor Morton, Daniel Petrie, Chris Thorburn, and Mirren Wilson).

The opening musical number, introducing this month’s broad concept of ‘learning’, does little to inspire confidence. Its overcooked, try-too-hard energy initially suggests a long hour ahead, the kind where goodwill is tested early. Thankfully, that fear proves somewhat unfounded. Once the show settles, the performers’ collective enthusiasm, commitment and sheer likeability begin to assert themselves, and the evening finds a more confident rhythm.

What’s most striking across the hour is the energy of the young cast. There’s a palpable sense of people delighted to be on stage, up for trying things, and excited to make something happen in front of a live audience. That eagerness carries a lot of the material further than it might otherwise travel. It’s to the show’s credit that the hit rate remains surprisingly high given the disparate levels of experience and the compressed development time.

Ambition is clearly not in short supply. Several sketches are dense and verbose, occasionally buckling under the weight of their own ideas, but rarely lacking intent. Some performers are visibly doing more of the heavy lifting than others, whether through sharper comic instincts, stronger stage presence, or simply more time to commit. It would feel churlish, though, to single them out in a format explicitly designed to be inclusive and developmental.

The night’s strongest material comes when the writing is tight and the premise clear. A sketch skewering teenage anti-bullying initiatives, Easin’ the Teasin’, lands with particular bite. While a late-night driving lesson that devolves into little more than a glorified taxi run to McDonald’s proves another highlight. These pieces combine sharp comic structure with confident performances, and they stand out accordingly.

Not everything works as well. A recurring pizza gag arrives stale and only grows more tiresome with repetition, puncturing the show’s momentum. Similarly, moments where performers stumble over lines or miss cues tend to amuse those on stage more than the audience, who are left waiting for the sketch to get back on track. And simple technical tweaks, such as short musical stings between sketches, would immeasurably help the pace and flow.

Story Platform, ultimately, is less about refinement than possibility. How much genuine comic talent is on display, as opposed to confident enthusiasm, will depend on individual taste and, inevitably, on the specific line-up each month. What is clear, though, is that the producers are committed to nurturing new voices and building a vehicle for emerging Scottish comedy. On this evidence, that commitment is already yielding a lively, if slightly uneven, show and one that promises to look very different and potentially sharper each time around.