Rating: ★★★★★
Venue: Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
Award-winning musical comedy duo Flo & Joan present their own original one-man musical about a very renowned gentleman. Fans of maths and gender will notice some discrepancies. Featuring a star cast of one (man) supported by a full band (two musical comedians hiding in the wings). The duo have previously written and performed songs for Live at the Apollo, Royal Variety, Warner Bros, Aardman and Horrible Histories.
Flo and Joan are a dynamic duo of musical comedy storytellers consisting of sisters Rosie and Nicola Dempsey who rose to fame accidentally after some clips they posted on social media went viral. They quickly became internet sensations and took their debut show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016, selling out the entire month-long run before it started. The pair have since appeared on stages and screens across the world, had three sell-out tours and multiple albums.
For anyone who has been a fan of these two for a while, you may have been thinking it’s about time they wrote a musical (myself included)! Well, your dreams have finally come true as they have debuted the One Man Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe this year.
I honestly don’t know how much I’m allowed to say about this show so I’m going to keep it vague, but it is a comedic ‘parody-esque’ style autobiographical show about one particularly prolific figure in the theatre industry, his journey to the top, successes, marriages (and divorce), and the many controversial decisions he has made. The first number in the show even comedically brings to light the ‘legal minefield’ and red tape surrounding the production and quipped that people ‘better see the show today, because it might not be here tomorrow’. Thankfully it reached the end of its run, and was a complete sell-out and a raging success.
The setup was perfect, with the band comprised of just Flo and Joan themselves and our protagonist portrayed brilliantly by (George Fouracres), bragging that he gets ‘a show all about me’. The duo perform an introduction number before George graces the stage, a name sadly not mentioned in any of the show’s billing or description. George could not have been a better choice to portray our famous friend, with energy and comedic timing that imitated to perfection and powerful pipes to boot.
Flo and Joan have always been known for their razor sharp wit and fantastic comedic timing and this show is no different. With ingenious scores clearly influenced from somewhere *wink wink* but remaining entirely fresh, and utterly hilarious lyrics, this show has it all.
I would love more than anything to see the show get further life, realistically I’m not sure whether it will due simply to potential legal difficulties, but a girl can always dream! And we know quite a lot about dreams, don’t we......?
You can find out more about One Man Musical by Flo & Joan, here.
Review by Rachel
No comments