Auto Auto

German percussionist Christian von Richthofen doesn’t look like your typical human beatbox – he’s middle-aged, suave and smartly dressed – but he certainly sounds like one, and has a rich classical singing voice too.

What a shame that in Auto Auto, also starring Rolf Clausen, he’s created such an unsatisfying showcase for his talents. One minute he’s building up a percussive storm at the mic, the next he’s going at a clapped-out Rover with an axe to the rhythm of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake theme.

For the opening act the pair performs one of Bach’s Fugues in the style of a driving experience, complete with the roaring of engines and the slamming of brakes, without so much as grazing the vehicle positioned on the other side of the stage. As the style shifts to samba they begin to incorporate some light percussion by opening and closing the doors and tapping on the bodywork.

Needless to say, it doesn’t end well for the car. The Rover puts up a pretty good fight (‘it was very hard tonight’ announces Clausen after bashing a foothold into one of its doors, ‘because it’s a British car’) but it can’t compete when spooky lighting effects announce the introduction of some heavy duty weapons.

To be brutally honest, Auto Auto would work better without words – Germans take a fair bit of abuse for their unique sense of humour, but something is definitely being lost in translation here.

What’s most frustrating is that there are suggestions of real musical excitement, such as an all-too-brief vocal rendition of Scotland the Brave fusing African rhythms with what could be bagpipes or digeridoo, or both.

Those who come for the music will doubtless be disappointed, while those who come to see a car smashed up will find that wanton destruction does not an hour-long Fringe show make.