If I were to compare comedy to anything else in the world, it would have to be scent. Highly personal, unpredictable and, at times, downright eccentric, personal preferences in scent and humour share many qualities. Cultural and social background inevitably contribute to whether you get it or not, whatever ‘it’ might be. Luckily for The Comedy Knights, the crowd which greeted the troupe at the Salesian Theatre in Sliema on the night I was there was definitely in on the joke.

Leaving no stone unturned in their quest for reaching the Camelot of political satire, I found the performances to be both stimulating as well as very clever and I’m not particularly easy to impress.

Unlike some of the tawdry, two-bit, cheap humour that seems to be prevalent on many a Maltese television screen, the subject matter of the sketches was well-studied, as well as well-executed. It did, however, help the viewer if he were possessed of a somewhat self-deprecating nature, as the Knights hit home run after home run, charmingly deriding a good portion of their target audience, as well as some of the country’s more renowned politicians and public figures, in ways which they probably not very much accustomed to (incidentally, kudos to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil for taking it all in good spirit, on the night he was there).

Among the now legendary Chogm meeting faux pas, which earnt themselves a space on many a television station, internet meme and You Tube video, as well as a spot in the Knights’ jousting match, the bon mot bunch tackled other recent events – from the Żonqor Institution of Higher Learning debacle to the racism that has hit our shores and the dubious political appointments.

The troupe giving Freddie Mercury a run for his money.

While each performance had its own starry merits, of particular note was Pia Zammit’s throaty portrayal of the Prime Minister’s wife Michelle Muscat in ‘The First Lady: Fifty Shades Darker’. Apart from the fact that Zammit managed to muster Muscat’s voice to a ‘T’, I found her lines to be extremely well-written.

When she swanned onto the stage in full Eva Peron getup, with enough feathers to furnish several feather dusters and French maid costumes, I found myself shrieking with laughter before she had even hit the first note.

Another sketch focusing on a national obsession which was illustrated in a worryingly accurate way had West End veteran Thomas Camilleri and Larissa Bonaci attempting to come up with new names for Maltese towns, in an effort to make the island seem more modern and innovative. Buzzwords which have sadly become more and more en vogue in many a politician’s clumsy effort to prove that newer is always better, when it seldom is.

The subject matter of the sketches was well-studied, as well as well-executed

Equally interesting were the sketches centred around ‘purchasing a Filipina’ for Christmas, which would have had many cringing with disgust while simultaneously reaching for the UN Human Rights Charter. Not to mention Black Milied, which saw a Maltese couple grappling with their daughter’s black (but Catholic) boyfriend in an unforgettable “Ara, he’s one of us” moment.

The aforementioned Micallef and Mark Cabourdin played the middle-class, middle-aged couple, seeking to be accepting and politically correct, extremely well. Furthermore, raising a lid on these national discussions is very timely, given the barrage of ‘us and them’ narratives which are being thrown about in the face of the global refugee crisis.

Despite the overall quality of the casting, which was pretty stupendous, my hat goes off to Jo Caruana. Not only did she raise the roof, with her rendition of the stereotypical, middle-class housewife par excellence in ‘New Neighbours’ (complete with prissy tea dress and hand-wringing galore), but her rendition of a Sliema Girl off to the Maldives to do charity work would not have looked out of place at a certain Sliema café on a busy Sunday afternoon.

We have long been a country that takes our politics and its figures a whole lot more seriously than we should. But Comedy Knights is the product of a group of clever people passing on the clear message that moving forward in any civilised society can only come about when political commentary and satire are encouraged, without giving in to the peculiarly southern Mediterranean ‘anything goes’ attitude which is still so prevalent on our islands.

While not everyone might have got it, it certainly hit the right notes with me. Well done Comedy Knights, I raise my sword to you.