Colchester Fringe Festival 2026
Rocket Fan: A Love Story
Alice Keys
Genre: Character Stand up, Comedy, Music, One Person Show, Tribute Show
Venue: CODA
Festival: Colchester Fringe Festival
Low Down
A relentlessly silly cliché love story with the soundtrack of Sir Elton John. Brilliantly sung and performed by Alice Keys, she proves she really is the best Elton John tribute act (in the UK).
Review
Rocket Fan is about pianist and comedian Alice Keys as she shares how she became the UK’s number one Elton John tribute artist (and how she found love along the way). As the show’s description puts it: “Expect humour, silliness, tears, glittering glasses and plenty of (optional) singalongs drawn from Elton’s iconic back catalogue.” If you do not like Elton John, you probably will still like the show. If you LOVE Elton John (and really who does not?), you will LOVE Rocket Fan.
You will recognize all the music in Rocket Fan, which goes down the list of Elton John’s discography. Keys encourages the audience to sing along, and in some cases, play the recorder. The show is a joyous tribute to Elton John’s music. However, a surprise appearance of a certain Kate Bush song had me cackling uncontrollably. All the song choices complement the jokes Keys tells throughout. In particular, the usage of the show’s title-driven song is an unimaginably perfect punchline and climax.
More important than Sir Elton, Keys is the real star of the show here. Not only is she a great singer, but she is a brilliant comedian. She is insanely likeable from the first moments they step on stage. Like all good rom-com protagonists, there is an undeniable need to root for her in all her tribute act struggles and romantic endeavors. The love story at the heart of the show is simple. Woman meets man. Woman listens to Elton John to appeal to him. Woman becomes Elton John tribute artist in care homes and beyond. Okay, maybe not totally simple… but it is a familiar, low-stakes, and (relatively) predictable love story to anyone who has watched a rom-com before. This familiar cliché love story, otherwise groan-inducing in something serious, is a delight here. That is because Keys delivers the story with a knowingly tongue-in-cheek lightness.
Rocket Fan‘s humor is akin to Titanique and told similarly. Did any of this Elton John tribute act story happen? Could two people really share a love for the Leicester Square M&M store? Did she really get “high as a kite” this many times? Probably not. The story does not need to make sense. It is just plain silly. Like Airplane! in its relentless self-referential humor, the show’s primary goal is to make you laugh and sing some great songs.
Is Rocket Fan deep philosophical material? Absolutely not. It is just fun. If you’re expecting introspection, you are at the wrong show. Rocket Fan has heart, humor, and FUN! It is just plain fun. It is one of the shows that no matter when you turn and look around at the rest of the audience, everyone is smiling. This is a show for someone who simply wants a good laugh and good songs, and Keys delivers in both. Grab your sparkly glasses, your recorder, and sing along. I’m still standing in ovation.
