@ Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 18:15
Twenty minutes in a darkened room with a deadpan Glaswegian showgirl, repeatedly promising (threatening?) to turn you on might not be everybody’s idea of fun. Indeed, it might not be the kind of fun the two men who walk out thought they might be getting from an evening with “Wild Card Kitty”. But it is a memorable way to start a show starring a trio of cabaret characters, each of them distinctively creepy and not someone to be left alone with.
BobbeE Dazzler, our Weegie potential seductress, loves her curves to the point of showing them off in a grotesque gyrating routine, comically designed to get no-one’s juices flowing. Unperturbed, she’ll drag you on stage to learn these moves yourself.
In a time-consuming costume change sequence, which has been worked into the act, but still proves a lull in proceedings, Dazzler is then transformed into Jacqui du Monde, a French cabaret artiste. A strange escapology routine from beneath a Twister mat is a weaker point in the set, but it’s all too cruel and undeserved when audience members use the fact she’s undercover as an opportunity to leave. (Imagine if she’d re-emerged to an empty room, people!) Better is a life portrait routine with a member of the audience – du Monde is possessed of artistic talent.
Another lengthy costume change introduces us to Katya Balzakoff, Russian man-eater, the clear winner in the trio. In fur hat and leopard-print, she prowls out into the audience looking to give couples relationship advice and finding victims for a crash-course in spicing up their sex life. The character of Katya certainly has metaphorical legs to go with the actual ones she’ll use to seduce you.
All told, Kitty’s characters are stronger than the material she’s prepared, which needs more substance and stronger dynamics, but she’s very good at working a room. It’s noticeable that the strongest routine is Katya, which is mainly spent flirting with audience members. With the right number of people in the room, Kitty could be very entertaining.