Birthday Girls: Party Vibes @ Cowgatehead

★★★★★
Review by Ben Venables | 27 Aug 2014

It's standing room only and this venue is no pub closet. It's more like a multi-storey car park. The show is running late – the party guests are still arriving.

Creating a party vibe is a simple premise, but to sustain euphoria for an hour is ambitious. Beattie Edmondson, Rose Johnson and Camille Ucan don't pause between comedy sketches – they dance. They recall the 1996-era Spice Girls but without the synthetic creation and PR. In other words, the Birthday Girls are for real.

Let's get the criticisms out the way. A couple of sketches rumble on and threaten to drop the speed below a thousand revolutions per minute. They're fond of revealing the puppet strings, using self-referential humour to exit scenes. The TV show parodies are excellent, but more than two in an hour suggests a need to 'get out more' for material. This is to miss the point though. The momentum is of a different class. This is a performance of breathtaking speed and stamina. Nothing can de-rail the rapture created here. 

It's less of a girls night out than expected; the audience are a mixed bunch. It's mainstream enough to deter comedy snobs but rewardingly bonkers. Arrive clean and deodorised. You might get sniffed. Don't go alone – it's too wild for solitude. 

This is joy. 

Birthday Girls: Party Vibes @ Cowgatehead, 1-24 August, 10 pm, free