Tag Archives: Sabrina Messer

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“It’s a very fun, very silly hour of musical comedy that’s super self-aware and makes the most of this”

Following their previous musical hits Timpson: The Musical and RuneSical, Gigglemug Theatre are back, this time with a musical based on one of the nation’s favourite biscuits… sorry, I mean cakes. This musical comedy uses the real-life case of the 1991 tribunal in which HMRC took Jaffa Cakes to court, claiming that they needed to pay VAT as the product is a biscuit, not a cake (which are exempt from this particular tax). It’s actually a pretty interesting court case, which you can read all about online. But if a musical is more your thing, then definitely make sure to catch this one.

Kevin (Sam Cochrane) is a lawyer, having disappointed his parents who wanted him to pursue a career as a musical theatre performer (a running gag in the show). He’s the defence in this case, up against Katherine (Sabrina Messer) as the prosecution. The task is simple: Kevin has to convince the judge (Alex Prescot, also on keys) that the Jaffa is in fact a cake, not a biscuit. On the way, he has to battle with the presence of the evil Tax Man, played by the utterly hilarious Katie Pritchard.

The songs are super upbeat, starting with the fabulous opening where the cast belt out ‘Is it a cake or is it a biscuit?’. The silliness is very much there from the start, as the actors come on wearing brown and orange costumes, on a set that is fully painted in Jaffa-cake branded colours. There’s a really nifty set design from Lauren Jones with three semi-circular set pieces which are used to setup the court and then moved around in one number to create different shapes, with a very clever use in the final scene that I shan’t spoil (although you may be able to guess!).

The lyrics (also by Sam Cochrane) are witty, playful and downright silly, with lines like ‘What if I wind up dead? / What if I crap the bed’ setting the general comic tone of the whole show. The standout song comes from Pritchard, who sings about being the ‘Tax Man’, a deliciously dark and funny villain number with some incredible riffs. The songs are matched with quirky choreography in Ali James’s production which gives a zany cartoonish type quality to the characters that’s a lot of fun to watch.

There’s also a surprising amount of heart in this story. I don’t know if it’s just the fringe-fatigue, but the show gets proper emotional at the end, with the cast singing out ‘If a cake can be a biscuit, you can be anything’. Who would’ve thought a musical about Jaffa Cakes would give me goosebumps? As well as the standout performance from Pritchard, Prescot shows off his multi-talented skills, playing the Judge and other supporting characters to great comic effect, whilst also on keys for most of the show.

It’s a very fun, very silly hour of musical comedy that’s super self-aware and makes the most of this. A great pick for a day at the Edinburgh Fringe.

 

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Pleasance Courtyard – Courtyard Two

Reviewed on 17th August 2024

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Ben Wilkin

 

 


A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL

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Timpson the Musical
★★★

King’s Head Theatre

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Timpson the Musical

Timpson the Musical

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 19th February 2019

★★★

 

“While the show is undoubtedly entertaining, it’s difficult not to wish for more thought behind the jokes”

 

We all know Timpson, the high street shop for your shoe-repair and key-cutting needs. But few know how the company came to be. The true story isn’t all that interesting: William Timpson and his brother-in-law Walter Joyce decided to go into business together. So Gigglemug Theatre have “invented a new one instead” (as their opening number goes): a musical Romeo and Juliet spoof, set in Victorian London, featuring Monty Montashoe and Keeleigh Keypulet as young lovers from two warring households.

Written and directed by Sam Cochrane and Chris Baker, Timpson: The Musical is pure slapstick. It’s a creative premise and an hour of sophomoric silliness that’s heavy on camp but unfortunately short on wit. The show’s humour is based on randomness rather than cleverness, which will work for some, but not others. ‘Keys are tiny saws!’ ‘I invented a dog door-flap, but for people! A people-flap!’ Someone runs screaming across the stage for no reason (something I’ve seen executed more successfully before). There are mimed punches and pratfalls. While the show is undoubtedly entertaining, it’s difficult not to wish for more thought behind the jokes. Some freshness of perspective would lift the comedy. Charlie Chaplin once said that the better joke is not the woman slipping on the banana peel; it’s the woman stepping over the banana peel and falling down a manhole. Timpson is a regular slip on a banana peel.

Although none of the songs are particularly memorable, they’re fun, and the singing is very well done all around. It’s a high-energy musical, and the actors give one hundred percent. Sabrina Messer is likeable as Keeleigh. James Stirling and Rachael Chomer are solid as Master Keypulet and Lady Montashoe. Alex Prescot (Man 1) deserves special commendation for his parody of multi-roling. Cochrane (Man 2) and Madeleine Gray (Monty) have impressive stamina. However, somehow, in a musical that is unmitigated camp, Gray’s performance is noticeably hammy. She pulls faces and leans heavily into physical and verbal jokes that are not sound enough to hold the weight. The exaggeration could use some dialling back. Regardless, the performers are all on full-force. This is not a show that will have you surreptitiously checking the time.

The audience last night exemplified the divisiveness of Timpson’s humour: one section never missed a cue to laugh, while in mine I may have heard a cricket on several occasions. A good litmus test is this: if you find the thought of keys being ‘tiny saws’ very funny, go see the show. If not, be warned that incredibly this joke is the crux of both the comedy and the story.

 

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography courtesy Gigglemug Theatre

 


Timpson the Musical

King’s Head Theatre until 9th March

 

 

King’s Head Theatre – winner of our 2018 Awards – Best London Pub Theatre

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
La Traviata | ★★★★ | October 2018
No Leaves on my Precious Self | ★★ | October 2018
Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Brexit | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Buttons: A Cinderella Story | ★★★★ | November 2018
Momma Golda | ★★★ | November 2018
The Crumple Zone | ★★ | November 2018
Outlying Islands | ★★★★ | January 2019
Carmen | ★★★★ | February 2019

 

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