Saturday 26 January 2019

Petty Bitches - Cabaret Review

What: Petty Bitches
When: 25 - 26 Januaray 2019
Where: The Butterfly Club
Created and performed by: Boo Dwyer and Tash York

Boo Dwyer and Tash York
So often in life we are told to not sweat the small stuff but Dwyer and York are here to celebrate our ability and need - yes need - to pick at every small detail in their riotous new show, Petty Bitches. These days there are conferences for everything and the Petty Bitch conference has booked The Butterfly Club for 2 days of delicious ranting about all the little things people do to annoy the shit out of us all.

Dwyer and York are 2 of our hottest comedic talents and they have paired up to create the most enjoyable conference you have ever attended. Under the watchful eye of cult...er, conference...leader, Katy Petty, Dwyer and York take us through the 5 steps to embrace our inner petty bitch.

As with all good self improvement programs, B.I.T.C.H. is the mnemonic to help keep the process in mind. If only York could remember it...

There are the traditional affirmations which allow the audience to share their inner petty bitch. Mine was counting the items in trolleys ahead of me in the 12 items or less express isle in the supermarket. The B.I.T.C.H program has given me the tools to own this tendency with pride. For some of you it may be the use of apostrophes or ellipses. For others it may be the speed of email replies.

Whatever your petty bitch moments are own them, love them, celebrate them! Most importantly though - let them breathe and multiply.

Both Dwyer and York are amazing and powerful singers as well as comedic geniuses and as they work through hits such as '9 to 5' (upgraded to power petty bitch lyrics for the new century), complete with excellent harmonies and clever lyrics, we experience multilayered moments of joy. My favourite was 'Toxic' which reminds us of all the petty things which are irritating about driving a car and catching public transport. So very, very many irritating moments to petty bitch about...

Perhaps the one moment of the show which did not work for me was the encore but not because of its quality. Dwyer and York perform the most amazing 90's pop montage which is transcendent in its brilliance of construction and performance. The issue is it really doesn't relate to the show and is literally just tacked on the end.

I say it is far too good for that. In order to make the dramaturgy work though, they ought to take a leaf out of the Neil Patrick Harris Academy Awards playbook and perform it at the beginning of the show as the pre-conference, show-stopping entertainment. It is too good to remove and it is far too good to just be an add on.

Unforgettable cabaret moment of the year goes to the Dwyer/York kazoo wars. I honestly never knew a kazoo could actually be musical, never mind being capable of the lyrical feats their kazoos manage!

Tonight is the last night of the Petty Bitch conference in Melbourne before it heads to Adelaide so sign up now and head to The Butterfly Club tonight bitches! (No gender restrictions apply).

3.5 Stars



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