The big songs of stage and screen are being presented at the Laughing Horse Free Festival by the Cabaret Freaks. This show combines hits from Sweeney Todd, Labyrinth, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Chicago and Cabaret with a juggler who doubles up as an MC for the evening’s events. Sounds good so far one might think, but the Laughing Horse must have gone mad with this not-so-freakish show. It was a disappointing send-up of things that have been and are still being done much better elsewhere.
The Cabaret Freaks could have turned it dark, spurred on by some of the great songs they were attempting to sing. Ben Hughes-Games plays the tunes on an underwhelming keyboard, while Jake Wheeler, Rebecca Haselhurst and Jasmine Smart wear garish wigs as they belt out the numbers. Haselhurst has the strongest voice, Smart’s interpretation of ‘All That Jazz’ from Cabaret lacked conviction - Liza Minnelli she is not - and Wheeler’s voice is painfully dull, lacking in any colour.
If the Freaks were not your cup of tea there was always the juggler, Tom Hunt, to fall back on. And fall he did; every fill-in act seemed to go wrong. Audience members brave enough to volunteer during his acts may want to take life insurance out before coming to see this show. A volunteer from the audience called Jason narrowly escaped a nasty accident as he tumbled off Hunt’s shoulders during a unicycle act. This uncertainty as to whether he could pull the acts off showed in his own self-conscious humour. A joke about feeling the ‘shaft’ of his unicycle reared its ugly head twice in the show - suggestions on a postcard for any new gags please.
I struggled to find a narrative or even a point to the whole affair. Ending with a medley of songs from Abba and the Spice Girls added to that confusion. As you scurry out cast members threaten to squirt you with a water pistol unless you hand over your hard-earned loose change for their donations boxes - not impressed.
