Cookery programmes are a winning formula on television for viewers these days, so why not do it live at the festival, add in some beatboxers, stir in a bit of audience participation and sprinkle some dancing and singing throughout? Mix it all together and what you come out with is a real contender for show of the fringe.
Part of the Assembly’s Korean season this August, which sees five acts showcase the creative arts of South Korea, Chef: Come Dine With Us! shows off a huge range of talents – everything but cooking really!
It is madcap, it is funny, it is mindblowing at times and everybody in the packed audience leaves in good spirits after a dance in the aisles, plenty of clapping along and a number of the crowd with stories to tell their friends about “that time they were pulled up onstage at the Edinburgh Fringe.”
The show is hosted by two slapstick comedian “chefs”, one doubling up as a very impressive Pavarotti-type opera singer, the other providing a martial arts masterclass part way through the show. They are joined on stage by their “commis-chefs” – two breakdancers and two female singers and the cast is completed with a phenomenal beatboxing duo who provide the musical backdrop for the entire show, from noise effects as the cast walk onto stage to the sounds that pair with the “cooking” of the dishes. It is wildly impressive and when they take to the floor at the end to show off what they can do with their voices it is impossible not to be astounded.
The show builds to a sizzling finale where an audience member gets to taste the first real food of the show and then pick the winner – red chef or green chef.
The whole hour is a smorgasbord worth of treats, well put together and all complementing each other perfectly.