This pony needs reining in

How to be a lad(y)

Smock Alley

**

The new group Ponybois might be a chip off the Ponydance block, but with none of the ironic charm, quirky characters and carefully crafted digs at contemporary social life. Instead of providing uncontrollable belly laughs, How to be a Lad(y) has to work hard to get a reaction from the audience sitting with gritted teeth, pining for Paula and Leonie and the other crazy Ponydancers. Gags are as blunt as dragging an audience member up to dance or receive a lap dance, stripping behind a backlit sheet and hiding someone's costume so that they'll have to appear on stage half-naked. Constant depictions of onstage rivalry and incompetence quickly tire, and the gyrating gender-bending is pretty vanilla compared to stuff going on elsewhere in the Fringe. Ponybois might have some good moves, cheesy sounds and crackling energy, but it needs sharper wit within its succession of set-pieces.

Ends Sept 15