★★

“The show is weird, but not weird enough to be interesting, or experimental”

It is a strange experience to be part of an audience which is half fervent superfans and half baffled and bored.

Puddles Pity Party seems to be quite well known in the US. Puddles (Mike Geier) appeared on America’s Got Talent and has some serious viewing figures on YouTube.

Puddles, in full white clown get up, sings a series of late ‘80s and early ‘90s pop rock covers, accompanied by short, often comic films on AV. These vary in style, though not in length or musical tone. My favourite was a slow-motion film of a glass of milk falling over (that was early enough in the show that I thought there might be meaning to it). There was also one where the video cut just before satisfying moments, like a glass shattering or a party popper going off. This was intercut with a cake being cut into random shapes and a piece of paper being folded over the lines. It was a clever idea, as several of the numbers were, each one was just far too long.

The show is weird, but not weird enough to be interesting, or experimental.

Puddles was at his best when he interacted with the audience. At one point he took everyone’s phones and switched them around, which was quite funny. The problem was nothing was quite funny enough. And some moments were deeply uncomfortable.

Several of his numbers touched on issues of inequality and religion. But they all kept it quite surface value. There was no link between songs, or driving force, or momentum. It was much more of a stylised concert than a show.

That said, some of the audience were really enthusiastic about the performance, even queuing up for a photograph afterwards. So for some, Puddles was a brilliant evening out.

LUCY AND FRIENDS at the Soho Theatre

★★★★★

“You will leave gasping for air, and an urgent desire to wash your hands.”

Lucy McCormick returns to the Soho Theatre with another outrageous, audacious, and electrifying show that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, and with an umbrella to hand.

Is it cabaret? Is it comedy? Is it a comment on the precarious basis of artistic endeavour in 2024’s Britain? Is it, McCormick asks whilst downing a bottle of red wine, art? The answer to all of these has to be emphatically yes.

If you have come to McCormick through her galvanising performance in Emma Rice’s Wuthering Heights, or as part of the RSC’s Cowbois ensemble, you may have a shock. McCormick’s shows are loosely based on cabarets in that they contain several semi-distinct performances. She sings and dances to a professional level. There is often a throughline: previous shows have looked at women through history, and the New Testament. But then she will dial the subversive elements to eleven.

While the audience is still filing in for this show, McCormick can be seen dashing around them, dressed as a Christmas tree, handing out props to select audience members. You’re left darting your eyes between her and the stage, set up in classic cabaret style. There’s a glitter curtain backdrop, fairy lights framing that, and metal rigging surround it all like a proscenium arch. Centre stage is a pole. So far, so conventional, so Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club.

“Though some performances push the boundaries of what’s acceptable in theatres, underpinning them all is McCormick’s phenomenal talent”

Then the lights go down, McCormick takes a microphone, and immediately upends multiple theatrical conventions, taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster. The concept behind Lucy and Friends is that having developed much of this material in the aftermath of the pandemic, there was not enough funding to support other performers. This is therefore McCormick’s first solo show, and she needs help from the audience to be her friends, community, and fellow performers.

It is hard to describe much else that happens without ruining the jokes that emerge from the unwinding of set ups. In brief then, highlights included the act with the pole, a reinterpretation of Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why”, a cat impression, and a reminder of 2016’s viral Bottle Flipping craze.

Though some performances push the boundaries of what’s acceptable in theatres, underpinning them all is McCormick’s phenomenal talent. Even the most absurd situations, that have the audience somewhere between being in stitches and shock, she is utterly in control of both herself and them. Her voice is strong, tackling big songs that juxtapose what else is happening visually. Audience members who are called upon to participate are at her beck and call. It is worth saying there is a sizable amount of nudity and sexual content, so maybe not worth seeing with family… unless you are the audience member designated to play McCormick’s mother.

Another audience member is assigned to be a critic, and McCormick narrates her own review for them, much more articulately than I have managed here. However for all the concept, callbacks and motifs, Lucy and Friends is still desperately funny. You will leave gasping for air, and an urgent desire to wash your hands.

PUDDLES PITY PARTY at the Soho Theatre

★★

“The show is weird, but not weird enough to be interesting, or experimental”

PUDDLES PITY PARTY at the Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 11th March 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Emily Butler

Previously reviewed at this venue:

PUDDLES PITY PARTY

PUDDLES PITY PARTY

LUCY AND FRIENDS at the Soho Theatre

★★★★★

“You will leave gasping for air, and an urgent desire to wash your hands.”

“Though some performances push the boundaries of what’s acceptable in theatres, underpinning them all is McCormick’s phenomenal talent”

LUCY AND FRIENDS at the Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 29th February 2024

by Rosie Thomas

Photography by Jonny Ruff

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LUCY AND FRIENDS

LUCY AND FRIENDS