REVIEW - YUMMY: ICONIC - UNDERBELLY FESTIVAL -

Ever wanted to learn how to make a sandwich? Yummy: Iconic has got you.

Yummy is a multi-award winning drag cabaret from Melbourne, Australia. Their shows combine burlesque, circus, drag and dance. They have been creating shows since 2015, and have toured these across Australia and overseas. Yummy first appeared in the UK in 2018 – presenting their show at the Edinburgh Fringe, with RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star Karen From Finance in the group. This time around they’re at Underbelly Festival in Cavendish Square, London until the 31st of July.

The world has gone crazy for drag in recent years. And in London, you could probably find some kind of drag show to go to every night of the week. Therefore to stand out from the crowd, you have to offer something different, the show needs to be elevated and offer something new which audiences have not seen before. Unfortunately I didn’t feel like Yummy succeeded at this.

Yummy: Iconic features a team of performers; Bendy Ben, Jarred Dewey, Jandruze, Karlee Misi, Valerie Hex and Velma Vouloir. Hex is the MC of the evening, she’s likeable and has some humorous moments, albeit some jokes are suited to the Aussies in the room, and went over the heads of the Brits in the room. She has multiple outfit changes throughout the show, which is fun, from being dressed as a giant molar to a ringmaster.

The dance numbers throughout the show were unfortunately quite cliché and predictable, they incorporated the classic moves you’d expect from drag artists, which we’ve all seen many times before.

The stars of this show however, are burlesque performer Velma Vouloir and aerial performer/dancer Jarred Dewey. They both present the most interesting and polished acts. Vouloir proves to be skilled in the art of burlesque, her dancing is excellent and leaves you wanting more.

Dewey was both the first act and the last, and is breathtaking to watch. From a routine with a pole, to the incredible display of upper body strength in an aerial routine, to a slowed down dance number at the end – I could not take my eyes off of Dewey. It’s worth the cost of admission for Dewey alone. This act feels elevated and on a different level to the rest of the show.

Yummy includes the traditional lip-syncing style of performances by drag artists. This isn’t seen very much in the UK anymore – many British drag artists sing live. But this is Australian drag, and so they lip-sync, and I did notice a few words were missed, but lip-syncing is rather hard as we’ve learnt from the TV show Lip Sync Battle.

Oh and yes there’s a sandwich themed number from Jandruze, but I’ll keep that a secret for you to enjoy.

In summary, Yummy: Iconic is fun, enjoyable and has a key theme of body positivity running throughout. Will it rock the world of drag, no. Will it be the best drag show you’ve ever seen, probably not. But it does still make for a great night out with friends.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
by Ellie Preston
Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, containing stacks of metal cabinets towering over the theatre, moveable by the cast to allow space for other central props like doors, beds and tables. In addition to this, the puppetry design by Matthew Forbes is incredibly clever, adding creepy elements to the show such … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
by Tom Carrao
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
by Amy Rye
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
by George Rennie
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
by Jenny Skuse
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with some success. The costuming is fun and vibrant, with the ugly stepsisters’ equine pyjamas and hoop-skirted ball gowns giving all the wrong kinds of extra you need for those characters. Cinderella’s on stage dress transformation is magical and really well-timed. The Dame, Lady Jelly-Bottom’s, outfits … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH