One of the joys of the Edinburgh Fringe is stumbling into a show that could only really exist here: inventive, slightly unhinged, and somehow completely irresistible. Film Noir Frog fits that description beautifully. It is exactly what the title promises: a ridiculous film-noir spoof led by a hard-boiled detective who also happens to be a grubby green puppet frog.

Tom Collett is at the show’s heart, bringing the titular amphibian sleuth to life with superb comic timing and wonderful puppeteering. The frog himself is a brilliant creation: seedy, dramatic, oddly charming, and always teetering between noir cliché and full-blown absurdity. It is a performance that could easily have worn thin, but Collett keeps finding new nuances in the joke.

Collett is aided and abetted by a supporting cast that match his chaotic energy with obvious enjoyment. They bounce between morally questionable officers, melodramatic suspects, and the exaggerated side characters that makes the whole thing work. Katie Poole as a barmaid, with a heart of gold, playing every person in the room is a particular comic highlight.

As a parody, Film Noir Frog has enormous fun with the genre. Expect groan-worthy puns, smoky-room monologues, red herrings and the sort of plot twists that arrive wearing a trench coat and a smirk. The mystery is deliberately daft, yet it is more carefully structured than it first appears, with clues, callbacks, and reveals tucked beneath the silliness.

What makes the show more than a one-joke novelty is its pace. Scenes build in suitably brooding fashion, only to be turned into something far more ridiculous by the frog detective’s presence, logic, or complete lack of either. The humour is often puerile, but it is delivered with enough style and precision that the audience is carried along.

At 45 minutes the running time is short: long enough to tell the story, enjoy the central gag, but not so long that the joke outstays its welcome.

This is not a subtle comedy. It is silly, theatrical, and packed with the kind of playful invention that makes Fringe discoveries so enjoyable. If the idea of a noir detective frog already makes you smile, this will almost certainly win you over.

Reviewed by Nina Gardner

Three and a half stars.

Playing at:- Theatre 3 at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall until 22nd August

Tickets and further information can be found following the link below

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/film-noir-frog

Cast

Tom Collett

Alex Baier,

Katie Poole

Lucy Anna.