Frisky & Mannish

Frisky & Mannish
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide. June 10-12, 2015

British musical comedy duo Laura Corcoran (vocals) and Matthew Floyd Jones (piano and vocals) latest show as Frisky & Mannish is an affectionate ribbing of pop-music’s goofier aspects.

In their standup, the two analyse prevailing trends in modern pop music, pick apart long-established songwriting tropes to expose their inherent absurdity and poke fun at the excesses of various celebrities. Though their language is peppered with vulgarity and innuendo that is calculated to shock, they make some sharp observations – such as how the extravagant, gushing language of certain love songs is really quite condescending if you stop and think about it, or how some songs intended as female empowerment anthems actually contain lyrics that undermine the message.

In between, the audience is treated to a variety of musically inventive mash-ups and medleys that serve to illustrate each point being made. Corcoran and Jones both display impressive chops as musicians, effortlessly covering material from a dizzyingly eclectic range of pop artists, old and new  (The Bee Gees, Bette Midler, U2, Dannii Minogue, The Bangles, Beyonce, Pink, Gotye, Billy Joel… even George Gershwin, to name just some). However, it is rather frustrating that most of the songs are only performed as fragments, very seldom is the audience treated to the duo applying their considerable skills to performing a piece in its entirety.    

The duo’s flamboyantly bawdy performance style results in many laughs, ensuring that even at its most critical, the show never comes across as mean-spirited. Those with a fascination for pop-kitsch are likely to get a big kick out of this show.

Benjamin Orchard

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