Review: PAT RASCAL: SPACE GRAVY, Etcetera Theatre

“What a silly premise!”

When entering the Etcetera Theatre to see Pat Rascal: Space Gravy, audience members are greeted by props scattered across the space and two metal chairs sitting in the centre. The show’s description even acknowledges the number of props, stating that they “may or may not fit in the Etcetera Theatre.” Space Gravy, created by sketch trio Pat Rascal (Anisa Khorassani, Matt Blin and Rob Davidson), is described as a “narrative sketch show” and, indeed, has a story that is followed throughout the hour. 

The show does take a while to pick up momentum, especially with the bizarre start of Khorassani and Blin tossing grapes into each other’s mouths as Davidson does some dramatic lip-synching to audio clips from the 2012 Olympics when Yorkshire finished twelfth in medals. There is even a little bit of audience participation, with grapes being handed out to be tossed into the mouths of the performers. All of this is done to the instrumental of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” - an interesting choice. 

After this strange introduction, we learn a bit more about the characters in our show. Khorassani plays Yorkshire, who is, unsurprisingly, from Yorkshire and dreams of forming the Yorkshire equivalent of NASA - YASA, AKA the “Yorkshire Aeronautics and Space Administration,” and ensuring that Yorkshire is the first to land on Mars. We are then introduced to Yorkshire’s friends - Yorgos, a Greek boy who is soon returning to his home, and Jon, who is moving to the far-off land of Bradford (which is actually part of Yorkshire). The three share their affection for one another with “friendship kisses” where they all kiss each other at the same time.

Time passes and we learn what has happened to each of the characters since they last saw each other twenty years ago. Yorkshire has successfully established YASA but must go up against an American spy, “Pelon Husk,” played brilliantly with an over-the-top American accent by Blin. Yorgos lives with his brother/lover, Yorgos 2 (Khorassani), the pair identifiable by their giant bulges, made by Blin and Khorassani shoving clothing into their shorts and walking in an exaggerated, slow fashion (yes, this does lead to some hilarious bits with quick changes and quickly making the bulge when needing to become a Yorgos). Davidson joins the action in Greece as Shaun, who is struggling to come out to his parents and goes to his uncles for advice. 

And Jon? Well, he’s not doing great, as illustrated by a truly disastrous attempt to adopt a puppy (no spoilers, you really have to see this bit!). But, after a tragedy, the former friends must come back to Yorkshire in order to save not only YASA but the world, fulfilling Yorkshire’s dream of getting to Mars. Davidson gives some of the best performances of the show with his exaggerated facial expressions, which are used even in the beginning when he is lip-synching to audio clips. 

What’s most impressive about the show is how easily the performers are able to switch in between characters. Along with playing their “main” characters, each actor takes on at least three different roles, with accents ranging from Greek to Scottish to Basque to American and costumes flying around the stage. Another highlight is the audience participation, ranging from giving kisses to the helmets of astronauts to throwing Yorkshire puddings at the villains. 

But, some of the funniest moments of the show come from when things don’t go exactly right. At one point, Khorassani and Davidson are filling Blin’s mouth with feta cheese, which is apparently warm as the trio decided to not put on the venue’s air conditioning. While struggling to get all of the cheese down, Blin ad-libs, “Feta me. I love this part of the show,” which leads to the other two breaking and feta nearly spilling all over the stage.

Pat Rascal: Space Gravy is a fun hour of sketch comedy with, as described by the script itself, “a silly premise.” Khorassani, Blin and Davidson are a fantastic trio whose on-stage chemistry makes the show even more enjoyable, especially when things do not go exactly as planned. 

Pat Rascal: Space Gravy ran on 5 December 2024 and 25 January 2025 at the Etcetera Theatre.

Photo Credit: Sam Dodgshon

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