Harry Shearer and Judith Owen: This Infernal Racket

Life partners Shearer and Owen make for a contrasting and, at best, intriguing cabaret double act. They perform with a no-frills stage setup that is classily understated, and are supported by keyboardist CJ Vanston, percussionist Pedro Segundo, and the unmistakable, legendary bassist Leland Sklar (pop and rock fans of a certain generation and taste are virtually guaranteed to own at least one album on which he has played).

They mostly alternate their performances rather than actively collaborating with each other; for some this will mean two shows for the price of one, though others may be disconcerted by the way that the tone of this presentation swaps back and forth between Owen’s soulful, sometimes sassy sincerity, and Shearer’s savage, sometimes smarmy satire.

The humour ventures into areas that are guaranteed to provoke discomfort, though it should also stimulate a healthy examination of the true function and potential of laughter; Shearer aims in his confrontations to remove power from the abusers of the world and give it back to those who have been victimised. Owen similarly provides her music with spoken context that encourages openness and bravery as a means of shaking off stigmas and anxieties.

The show is preceded by an entertaining but brief visual montage of the pair’s screen work of the past; this kind of audio/visual component would perhaps have benefited one or two songs that didn’t quite hit the musical bullseye. In particular, the Rolling Stones-based parody of Rupert Murdoch’s union with Jerry Hall is really not amusing enough to be worth the pain of Shearer’s deliberately grating vocal style.

This Infernal Racket offers a range of musical settings and humorous observations, varied in impact and quality, but worthwhile on the whole. Though it commendably concentrates on exposing us to an aspect of Harry Shearer’s talent that has not been as widely recognised as, say, Mr Burns, there is a blast from the man’s musical past to be found right at the end – but to say more would spoil the sweet surprise…

Anthony Vawser

Photographer: Alessia Laudoni