Kobolds are fantasy monsters famed for having terrible luck and making bad life choices. They’re small, a little bit silly and sort of cunning. The Kobold Show is about an hour of five grown-up performers pretending to be daft monsters. It is incredibly charming.

We are introduced to our heroes; one is strong, another has gadgets, a third is charismatic, the fourth one is very lucky, and the last kobold, well, they just do their best. They have odd names and odder personalities. Costume is simple; just some headwear, everything else in performance. (For those of you who care; these are the Western reptile-like Kobolds, rather than the dog-like anime style).
Our band of heroes learn of an epic quest and decide to take it on. Kobolds aren’t human, so they speak in a made-up baby babble that sounds like a cross between Minions and Teletubbies. We understand them well enough (and an in-universe voice over in English does the rest).
As such, the storytelling is done through clowning, use of cardboard props and mime. There’s a super low budget, scrappy charm to this. One of the show’s producers and actors, David Andrew Laws, has previously created high-tech D&D shows like Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern, so it’s nice to see something more basic from this team. Imagination is the most powerful tool, after all.

This show is very ‘spirit of the fringe’. It’s fun, it’s creative, it’s clever, and you’d need a heart of stone not to enjoy the presence of five little Kobolds being very brave and doing very clever, if ill-advised things. Fun!