OBSERVER: Starring Two Women
Two women approach the microphone, one in dazzling, turquoise satin and the other in a sparkling, feathered gown, to announce the next category of Australian free-to-air TV’s daggiest awards show, the Logies.
“Tonight is all about television,” we are told.
Audience members in the steamy environs of Melbourne’s iconic Nicholas Building may or may not have included TV luminaries, Love Island’s Sophie Monk, The Block’s Scotty Cam, or disgraced former Logies host Andrew O’Keefe, as the two celebrities greet fellow A-listers from the stage.
Comedy team Pippa Mills and Helena Ruse star in this whacky story of two B-list celebrities embroiled in a Hollywood scandal of their own making.
An unfortunate incident backstage caught on mic plunges the stars into redemption mode. Their agent is not impressed.
High jinks ensue as the celebs pursue various tomfooleries designed to bring them back from the brink of obscurity and into the spotlight once again.
This show is more like a high-velocity sitcom than a stand-up comedy.
Some very funny comic writing runs through the narrative, from resurrecting TV hosts Bert Newton and Andrew O’Keefe from the literal and metaphorical dead to a silly send-up involving two ‘Karens’ negotiating the city from the ‘Bordeaux end’ of Collins Street.
Mills and Ruse engage in multiple skits and capers as they try to repair the damage to their careers.
Highlighting the ridiculous nature of contemporary celebrity and the influence of public opinion, Mills and Ruse display their comic chops with plenty of funny moments despite the show being a little rough around the edges.
Until April 13 at the Nicholas Building, Swanston St, Melbourne.
Bookings: comedyfestival.com.au
Review by Kathryn Keeble