A gay cliche

When Topping and Butch take to the stage in bondage outfits and Phantom Of The Opera masks, it looks, briefly, like their Take It Up The Octave! show could provide a few offbeat surprises.

An expectation dashed by their second ditty, Never Mind, offering such sub-sixth-form-review, cringeinducing couplets as 'If Maxine Carr wants to get shagged, she'll have to wait until she's tagged'.

By the time they've got through Don't It Make Gordon Brown's Eyes Blue, Corgi And Bess (about Princess Anne's mutt eating a corgi) and shouted 'fag hag' to the strains of Down Town, it's clear this pair, while boasting of their enthusiasm for the 'political topics of the day', are delivering an act better suited to an audience of gay geriatrics.

If good comedy is meant to challenge expectations, then Topping And Butch are an abject failure. But if songs about automated call centres are cutting-edge satire, then yuk it up. Andrew Williams

Until Sat, Soho Theatre And Writers Centre, 21 Dean Street W1, 9.30pm, £12, £10 concs tonight, £15, £12.50 concs tomorrow to Sat. Tel: 020 7478 0100. www.sohotheatre.com Tube: Tottenham Court Road/ Piccadilly Circus

Topping & Butch Take It Up The Octave!