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Dirty Work

 
Isabella Thompson Review by Isabella Thompson 4 Published: 6 Aug 2025 Underbelly, Cowgate Show Dates: 31 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

‘Spit spot’ is your safe word in Jessica Barton’s hour of ‘clean’ clown comedy.

A wonderful hour of play

We encounter Mary Floppins mid-spring clean, finding small moments of joy in the domestic routine: folding pillowcases, sorting laundry and losing herself in the dirty world around her. The more we watch, the cheekier she gets, especially when she is left to her own devices. She has an air of serenity, but what bubbles underneath is an altogether freakier affair.

Barton’s clowning leans into this shift: her delivery is full of subtle mischief and physical nuance. She rarely speaks (other than the occasional, brilliantly timed quip), but her expressions do the real work – scolding, teasing, daring the audience to play with her. Throughout, she enlists men from the crowd to help her, guiding them in silent sequences that showcase her Gaulier training. Though audience participation is commonplace at the Fringe, it is rarely navigated as professionally as Barton. There is a magnetic tension in her gaze that flickers between play and provocation, keeping the audience squarely in her grip – the perfect breeding ground for clown comedy.

Barton’s physicality is a revelation: she moves with comic precision, unleashing bursts of energetic dancing that inject the piece with punch and pace. She masterfully combines the sweet, charming charisma of ‘the perfect nanny’ with a sharp, quick wit that makes her a joy to watch. It does not take long before we learn the truth behind Floppins’ need to clean, and what unfolds is something far stranger and more layered, underpinning the performance with a chilling, more poignant message.

That said, there are moments where momentum dips and the conceit feels stretched a little thin. A touch more variation or escalation would help pack the show more densely with action. Given Barton’s ingenuity, it feels as though this would be an easy fix.

A beautifully simple and highly effective concept, Dirty Work is a wonderful hour of play. Confident, relaxed and utterly charming, Jessica Barton is a highly talented performer who is sure to gain a cult following this Fringe.

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The Blurb:

Mary Floppins has thrown a shit fit. Wipe the wee from the toilet seat and pick up your dirty undies, because The Perfect Nanny is back to teach all you little boys – and girls – a thing or two about running a prim and proper household. Hailed 'a rising star and quadruple threat' (ArtsReview.com.au), Jessica Barton combines a spoonful of song, dance, clowning and deep cleaning to present a skanky and empowering Edinburgh Fringe debut. Best Newcomer Award Winner (Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2025). Take A Chance On Adelaide Award Winner (Adelaide Fringe 2025). **** (Chortle.co.uk).