If you are looking for something fun and free with a few laughs at this year’s Fringe, then head on up the stairs of The Laughing Horse for a drink and some Blues and Burlesque in the afternoon.
A bespectacled, fedora-wearing keyboard player, Pete Saunders, welcomes the crowd with sassy rhythms, witty quips, and heckling reserved for latecomers. He introduces us to Vicious Delicious, our host in a smashing glittering red gown and giant cat-eye glasses, and to Bouncy Hunter, the alcoholic ballerina.
These two lovely women are the singing, dancing, slap-sticking stars of the show. Some of the most memorable acts and entertaining performances are of the vaudeville variety: cheesy vulgar jokes and tap routines executed by the duo. Some of these include a Roaring 20’s Charleston battle of tapping feet and an original song by Saunders about waiting for the ‘tool man.’ Wink wink.
There’s a lot of that sort of tongue-in-cheek humour laced with subtle innuendo (and some not-so-subtle) but this is burlesque, so if you didn’t expect that coming in, you’re at the wrong show. The ladies, however, could do with a lesson or two in the art of tease before purveying the art of the strip.
The solo acts contain more blues than burlesque, and the blues are less blues than covers of pop songs with rewritten lyrics than may give you a laugh. All in all, it’s a small-scale bit of fun with some audience participation along the way. And if that’s your cup of tea, then make sure you are there early enough to be at the front of the queue.