Cabaret Whore

The Free Fringe: where performers can only dream of breaking even thanks to their reliance on donations from audiences. "At least it was free," they usually mutter. But Cabaret Whore is an exception; an underrated gem of a show which seems to have evaded all critical attention.

First, meet Sammy Mavis Junior, a Texan porn star and unwitting philosopher whose wide-eyed innocence at the audience’s reaction to her songs ‘Trailer boys’ and ‘Get here – do me if you can’ makes the innuendo-fuelled sketch much funnier than it should be.

Cue a lightning-fast costume change, and next up is Loretta, the fame-seeking librarian who has emerged from an insular world of literature to make her name on a TV talent show and claim a number one charity single for the middle classes with ‘I Really Don’t Care’.

Finally, La Poule Plombeé emerges from behind the curtain; a menacing French chanteuse wielding a sizeable knife. The frumpy pigeon to Edith Piaf’s little sparrow, our final and funniest character tells us in no uncertain terms that life is shit, that English has butchered the French language, and those audience members who don’t make a donation will meet the pointy end of her knife. It may sound like an obvious set of jokes, but writer and performer Sarah-Louise Young delivers enough intelligent one-liners with great timing, a razor wit and a singing voice worthy of bigger venues than Espionage’s tiny Kasbar.

By the third act, Cabaret Whore has convinced every audience member to drop a few coins in the donations bucket – perhaps in an attempt to make it past La Poule Plombeé who menacingly guards the door at the show's end, but more likely because a polished show like this deserves some credit. In the future we may have to pay to see Sarah-Louise Young in action but, either way, I’ll be back.