A trio of physical theatre shows that reference or usurp variety, vaudeville and cabaret traditions, as seen by Dorothy Max Prior at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025
A&E Comedy have been blazing a trail these past few years, making feisty feminist physical comedy that’s not afraid to address topics that most shy away from, not least the fear of the crone, and the delights and terrors of the ageing female body, in shows such as Enter the Dragons and Witch Hunt. Their latest show, Do All the Things, presented at Assembly Checkpoint, is a slightly different beast – in some ways more mainstream and Ed Fringe friendly – although their trademark mix of caustic humour, clowning suss, ludicrous costumes, and general silliness is still upfront.
At the start of the show we meet a pair of end-of-the-pier comedians, Cyril Suckit and Sammy See. (Collectively known as Suck it and See, see?) With their sparkly tuxedos, toupés, and protruding rubber teeth, they are a fair parody of your friendly neighbourhood avuncular entertainer of yore. They sing the show’s theme tune ‘Do All the Things’ to the tune of ‘It’s Raining Men’ and introduce the special guests and fun-for-all-the-family participatory games, the highlight of which is the special version of bingo with interactive tasks such as swearing in foreign languages, drawing portraits of your neighbour without looking at the page, and muff-spotting. As for the guests – who are (of course) all played by our trusty clowns Emma Edwards and Abigail Dooley – we meet an endocrinologist who tells terrible jokes (‘How do make a hor-mone? Refuse to pay her’), a dementedly-dancing glam rocker clad in silver foil, and a naturist who invites us to come and hug a tree, all the while confiscating all our unnecessary worldly possessions (jackets, iphones, bags), reassuring us that we’ll feel a lot lighter without all this materialist baggage. Then comes a very silly send up of the Marina Abramović piece Rhythm 0, in which audience members are invited to take any object from the table to use in any way they like on the artist’s body. Thus, our intrepid artists find themselves wearing bunny ears, daubed in lipstick, and with custard pies splattered on their chests. Is nothing sacred? No, thank goodness.
There’s a clever device to allow for costume changes, with a film shown to us between skits purporting to be a live feed from the dressing room, the two squabbling about what sketch to do next, and deconstructing the content of the show with mock-academic seriousness. There’s also, less successfully, a series of parody TV ads that fall a little flat.
Emma and Abigail are seasoned clowns, and the show feels well-held, with the copious quantity of audience participation moments managed with great aplomb (and hats off also to the pair’s glamorous assistants, playing trees, bears etc.) For me, a veteran appreciator of the company’s work, the core content of Do All The Things wasn’t quite as strong as their previous two creations, but this is nevertheless a very good Edinburgh Fringe show, and audiences new to their work were clearly delighted not only with what they witnessed but with what they were drawn in to so expertly. Do suck it and see!
There’s a connection to the next show, Rabbits Out of the Hat, that I didn’t know until I found myself in the queue for it at Pleasance Dome with both Abigail and Emma – it turns out that Abigail directed it.
Norvill and Josephine are our hosts, purportedly a brother and sister variety act. He’s a Master Magician with ‘a cape, courage and cojones’. She’s his glamorous assistant, sawn in half in the Cabinet of Swords, performing the elegant dance routines created by her mother. But it’s 1905 and the Suffragettes are in town – soon the tables are turned and the rabbit is indeed pulled out of the hat…
The show is not a pastiche: it features bona fide magic tricks (levitation, escapology, transformation) from Magic Circle member Christopher * playing Norvill; and fabulous contortion and acrobatic dance from Desiree, plus vaudevillian panache, and a great rapport with the audience. The story of the siblings who realise (she first, then he) that they are not content to have their identities defined by what they have inherited from their parents progresses in a breathless, whirlwind mix of circus-and-magic rich cabaret acts and narrative that quietly and lovingly deconstructs assigned gender roles in society, proving that identity politics can be fun. An uplifting and inspiring show. Plus, we get to take home an origami rabbit!
Over at Assembly Roxy, there’s a fabulous demonstration of physical theatre and cabaret skills from Luciano Rosso, one half of the team that created the Total Theatre Award winning show Un Poyo Rojo. His solo piece, Apocalipsync, is a magnificent melée of diva dancing, contortionism, bone-cracking (with a comical twist), lip syncing.
There’s a simple set of a stage-wide plastic shower curtain – peeked through, flounced through, transformed into an odd kind of ballgown – plus, used as a screen to project onto. There’s an excellent lighting and a sound design that incorporates romantic Boleros, banging house tunes, barking dogs, fighting neighbours, clanging pots, and soundbites from world leaders (Trump, Boris Johnson, and numerous other foreign ones I don’t recognise) reminding us that we have a pandemic on our hand. ‘Stay indoors’ says Boris, inviting a titter from the audience. For yes, this is 2020 – and Apocalipsync is the show that Luciano devised whilst in solitary confinement, his lockdown nightmare morphing into a moonage daydream of disco dancing, lone karaoke, ostrich impersonations, and playing flamenco air guitar. The plastic curtain is a clever choice as once we realise the context it evokes the protection measures in hospitals, taxis and shops that become so normalised so quickly. Had I known this was a ‘lockdown’ show I might not have come, but as it is, I was very glad I did. It’s probably the only show about the lockdown that I’d want to see, though – a joyful celebration of the pleasures of a solo life.
A&E Comedy: Do All The Things, Assembly Checkpoint, 14.45
Norvill & Josephine: Rabbits Out of the Hat, Pleasance Dome / King Dome,11.35
Luciano Rosso: Apocalipsync, Assembly Roxy, 17:25
For further information and to book tickets, see edfringe.com