Not Quite Sherlock

London, the final years of the nineteenth century. Barnaby Gibbs, a man made entirely of shortcomings, had never succeeded in doing anything useful with his life. Until he became the stalwart companion of the brilliant detective Antoine Feval, sharing in his adventures, and helping him solve the most difficult of mysteries.
But in all their investigations together, there is one mystery that has never been solved; why would a brilliant man like Feval choose to work with a bumbling fool like Gibbs?

In Not Quite Sherlock, Chris Gibbs uses every bit of his 35 years of comedy experience to tell the heart-warming and hilarious story of a man who thinks he must be the luckiest fellow on earth, but who might just have depths so hidden, only a brilliant detective could find them.

Not Quite Sherlock (under its original title, ‘Antoine Feval’) was first performed in 2005 at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, where it won Best of Fest. Since then the show has been performed all over Canada (and a little bit beyond). It sold out its entire Toronto Fringe run in 2006, won the Just For Laughs Best Comedy Award in the 2009 Montreal Fringe, and then played at Just For Laughs that year. Other highlights include the Revolutions Festival in Albuquerque, NM, the High Performance Rodeo in Calgary, The World Buskers Festival in New Zealand, and the Victoria Playhouse, Victoria by the Sea, PEI.

In 2014 the show was chosen to be a part of the first run of shows recorded for the Bell TV series On Stage On Demand

“Gibbs’s performance is near flawless. His martini-dry wit is characteristically sharp, and his comic timing is beautiful.”
CBC

“Clueless, guileless and absolutely priceless…Sherlockians will be in heaven. Everyone else will be here, laughing hard.”
Edmonton Journal

“full of twists, turns, and gadzooks moments.”
Now Magazine, Toronto

“a highly skilled, confident comic actor whose writing is unrelentingly clever and whimsical”
Victoria Times Colonist

“Chris Gibbs is such an effortlessly natural, off-the-cuff comedian that it’s easy to overlook what a superb playwright he is. Arguably the year’s most perfect script”
Vue Weekly, Edmonton

“What follows is the most British telling of this unraveling mystery with many twists and turns, which is simultaneously lovingly embedded in all the conventions of Sherlock Holmes, while also turning them all upside down to very clever and comedic effect. Chris Gibbs plays a number of different characters, including a particularly memorable Scotland Yard Inspector with a very pinched voice. He also improvises as he goes with the audience, which is extra impressive given the rollicking speed in which he brings this story to life.”
“The conceit of this show, which I won’t spoil, is so unique and deliciously fun, and given how many stories have been written adjacent to the Sherlock Holmes universe, it’s exciting to find one so fresh. ”
TWISI Theatre Blog