Australians Benny Davis (keyboards), Lee Naimo (guitar) and Jordan Raskopoulos (vocals) make up the comedy rock trio Axis of Awesome. They have been described as 'Spinal Tap meets Flight of the Conchords' by The Scotsman, and their musical comedy style along with lead singer Jordan's uncanny resemblance to Jack Black draws inevitable comparisons with US duo Tenacious D. 

The trio address the latter comparison early on in their show. After the high-octane opener; 'Infinity Rock Explosion', and the first of several appearances throughout the show of 'Surprise Song', the band melded their own variety of sketch comedy with a song about how Jordan is very much aware that he looks like Jack Black. This self-aware comedy provided one of the highlights of the show for me.

Not only are Axis of Awesome talented musicians, their comedy writing is excellent. They use a mixture of parodies and original songs to provide an hour of high energy fun. The show ended with the only song I had heard previously; the YouTube hit 'Four Chords'. Although I'd heard the song before, the trio keep the material fresh by always updating with very recent songs as well as some classics which, you guessed it, the same four chords.

If you're looking for an hour of musical comedy silliness you couldn't do much better than Axis of Awesome.

  ****

Axis of Awesome  : Infinity Rock Explosion

Company: - Axis of Awesome

Venue: -  Gilded Balloon V 14

Dates: - 5 to 31 August 2009 ( not 19)

Times: - 21.15 to 22.15 

Fringe Programme Page: - p26