Piano Chick Does Sex & The Sixties

Piano Chick Does Sex & The Sixties
Presented by Becky Blake. Adelaide Fringe. Lexus Adelaide, 164 West Terrace, Adelaide. February 19 & 28, 2015

Piano Chick Does Sex & The Sixties is a 90 minute cabaret show in which singer/pianist Becky Blake and her five piece band deliver solid renditions of that swinging decade’s greatest hits, interspersed with some more uneven stand up material outlining the history of the sexual revolution.

The song selection covers quite a wide range of material – The Beatles, The Doors, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, The Supremes, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and Nancy Sinatra, to name just a few – and Blake rises to the challenge with impressively dextrous keyboard playing and thunderously commanding vocals. Her backing band (which includes Gary Isaacs on bass, Sandy Hosking on cello, Rino Sfarra on drums and Paul White on Hammond organ) match her both in terms of technical finesse and wildly impassioned enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, Blake’s stand up history of the 60s is much less consistent. Many of her routines are sprinkled with puns so forehead slappingly bad, that they make the various crude come-on lines in 60s James Bond movies seem sophisticated by comparison. That said, she does get some good laughs out of 60s advertising, and these are enhanced by slide projections showcasing the more laughably kitsch imagery of the era.

Despite the uneven comedy, fans of the material covered will probably be enthralled by Blake’s spirited renditions and those looking for something of a Nostalgia Fix this Fringe Festival will get their money’s worth here.

Benjamin Orchard

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