Aphrodite Manifests

It is impossible not to fall in love a little with Brigitte. If you can get past the glitter assault at the beginning of her show (I dodged behind another, less lucky punter who took the full brunt of her assistant’s make-up brush) you will be invited into a strange world of fairies, bitten fingernails and suburban drudgery that owes as much to magic-realism as it does to straight stand-up. Her guitar-driven poems and songs are persistent, rhythmic and, at their glittery core, intelligent. Is it Tinkerbell covering The Streets or vice versa? The show ended with audience members and special guest stars ‘dancing with a stranger’ to the song of that name. For my money, though, I would have been more than happy to leave the audience participation and the guests in favour of more stage time from Brigitte herself. She, after all, is the star.