Certified Male

Last year Les Dennis tried for Fringe cred in a frankly pretty poor play. This year he's back and he's found a much better vehicle.

Not that Certified Male is perfect; for a start it can't make up its mind if it's a play about male bonding, a comedy show about male rivalry or a piece of fourth-wall-breaking Fringe theatre. But at least it's funny, and frequently very funny. It also has some good (whisper the dread word) mime. Glynn Nicholas, co-writer, director and funniest of the on-stage quartet, does a lovely exit in a huff through a mimed door.

So how does Les Dennis fare? Very well, actually. He flings himself into the role of bothered executive and serial husband with a will, shows his timing is still good and shares a swimming/drowning scene with Nicholas that is actually pretty wonderful.

Simon Gleeson is charismatic as the young answer to every girl's dream, at least in his own estimation. Roger Alborough has the least showy role as the plotting boss, but he does get some lovely riffs on the painting The Raft of the Medusa.

Plotting bosses, bothered executives, bonding weekends in the wilderness... it's a shame that all gets thrown away in what becomes a genial, generalised entertainment. But let's not complain too much. It is genuinely funny, the songs are not bad, the on-stage pianist (Alex Silverman) is a joy and over-all it's good entertainment.

And Les Dennis is a few notches closer to full Fringe cred.