Bag of tricks

Every visiting act at the London International Mime Festival arrives garlanded with gushing press quotes. This is not always a sign of quality.

Belgian duo Les Witloof have won considerable praise on the circus circuit but last night's show started so drearily that this threatened to be the first major stinker of 2005. They eventually turned things around with a vengeance, though only after a breathtakingly tiresome opening.

Thierry Craeye and Daniel Van Hassel certainly look the part, one wiry and supple, the other a doughy-faced Harry Enfield clone. Unfortunately, their initial physical skits left much to be desired. They popped balloons, jigged, did some moderately intriguing magic and a number of lame lasso tricks before pushing their luck with some badly structured giant rope-flicking.

A running gag had one triumphantly producing beers from his paper bag while the other forlornly found only air in his. After the third time I was ready to break my no-alcohol new year's resolution. And did I mention the irritating red noses and thrift store, Eighties social worker chic that would be enough to drive anyone to drink?

Their quick-change routine in a cardboard box was fleetingly promising, but a classic bowling ball trick, switching a real one for a dud, did not come off. The most potent contemporary clowning is the Beckettian existentialism of Slava Polunin. This was more redolent of street entertainers with ideas above their station.

Yet, just as it seemed as if things could not get more leaden, the twosome, who have worked together for 15 years, sprang to life, assembling and scaling a large deck of cards before removing successive supports, as if playing human Jenga. The crowd was justifiably transfixed.

This would have been a suitably redemptive finale, but things continued to improve with an irreverent duel and some audacious pyrotechnics.

Further surprises upped the ante and built towards a genuinely crowd-pleasing finish. While this remains a simplistic set for family audiences, at least it fulfilled its remit. Never mind those beers, Craeye and Van Hassel pulled the entire show out of the bag.

Until Sunday. Information: 08703 800400.

Les Witloof: Sous Pression