Edinburgh Fringe 2012

EastEnd Cabaret: Notoriously Kinky

EastEnd Cabaret

Genre: Burlesque, Cabaret

Venue:

Underbelly Cowgate

Festival: Edinburgh Fringe

Low Down

Review

EastEnd Cabaret is musical duo Bernadette Byrne, a black-bobbed dominatrix with a pseudo-German accent, and Victor Victoria, a half-man, half-woman freak of dry humour, who whip the crowd into shape with a series of risqué songs and a bit of audience participation.

Byrne is the straight character, if straight is the right word, vampish and attention seeking, while the oddball Victie keeps up a wry commentary on her partner, sometimes out loud, sometimes with just a knowing flick of the eyes towards the audience.

Byrne sings songs about naughty things to do with ping pong balls, stalkers, hangovers and deflowering virgins, while Victoria, in a cute outfit that’s half tux, half tutu, accompanies on keyboard and accordion, loops tracks and exhibits some psychopathic tendencies.

They expertly reel the audience in, demanding attention and making eye contact while the pace varies between funny entertaining and intentionally awkward. The routine is carefully worked out, but they aren’t afraid of a little ad hoc changes and they confidently own the room.

In one moment of  prolonged silence at the show I was at a heckler started to disrupt the performance and they seemed unperturbed, calmly taking an audience vote on whether to eject him (the audience voted yes!).

The seating round three sides of the stage works very well, as does the low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room for an intimate show where audience interaction is required and avoiding the front row does not necessarily mean you will escape being the subject of one of their songs.

Much of the routine isn’t particularly innovative: we’ve all seen the dark-haired vamp before, although there’s no doubt Byrne is intending it in an ironic way; looping is performed to comedic effect, but it has been used more excitingly elsewhere; and while the jokes and songs are bawdy, they are unlikely to break any taboos, except for those who are sensitive to high sexual content.

What sets this apart though, is the great finesse and a personal touch with which the pair handle the material. Byrne and Victoria make a great comedy duo, complimenting each other in persona and stage style and their show is both hilarious and seat-squirming in well-balanced measures. It’s a great piece of late night entertainment and the end came too soon. I could happily have stayed longer.

One thing that needs to be dropped is the sales pitch. A couple of songs before the end they announce that CDs are for sale and ask everyone to recommend the show to their friends if they enjoyed it. It’s bad enough when this is done after a show, but during the routine while still in character it is so much crasser and undermines the image of confidence and professionalism that they otherwise project throughout.

Published August 7, 2012 by Jenni Davidson