From the opening seconds where Ivan nearly fainted on stage midway into a Lion King pastiche, it was clear the comedy duo’s new show was going to be a little less polished than usual.

Scripts in hand Max And Ivan were trying out new material for their new Edinburgh show in August. And at first glance The Reunion looked like a bit of a winner.

Based around a ten-year school reunion, the structure allowed for some great character pieces, story arcs, running gags, flashbacks and physical humour.

And there were moments of real invention – from the side-by-side graduation and reunion welcome speeches to the unfinished fight in the music room.

Running throughout was a tender love story as shy mummy’s boy Brian plucked up the courage to tell his childhood sweetheart Jessica how he felt about her.

Thrown in his way were the feckless musical genius Paul who threw it all away, Alan Jones the highly strung geek who no-one remembered and Jessica’s boorish current partner just there for the booze.

And there were some great offbeat tangents, such as the geography teacher and mature student picking up their affair where they left off ten years before.

At the end the pair said the show would be transformed over the next three days – but Friday suggested they have a great jumping off point.