Adelaide Cabaret Festival – Frisky and Mannish

Frisky and Mannish were last at the Cabaret Festival five years ago. Sure, they’ve been to Adelaide since then in other Festivals, but Cabaret is where they truly belong.

For the un-initiated, Frisky (Laura Corcoran) and Mannish (Matthew Jones) are Britain’s maestros of music mayhem, mashing, mixing and making pop music funny. Their new show is not only fantastically witty, but their vocals are sublime. Corcoran especially has such a huge range and can switch from opera to pop in a moment.

Frisky and Mannish dress like the ’70s and ’80s exploded in their suitcase and bring all the glam to their pop sets that is enough to put Beyoncé to shame. It’s hard to describe the act other than it’s a different take on pop music – from the Bee Gees to Minogue (not the one you’d think of) and everyone in between, no pop star is safe.

‘Letters from Sinead O’Connor’ was a particularly intelligent highlight, giving some Irish insight into her opinions of more than just Miley, taking Bieber, Beyoncé, Iggy and others along for the ride. The Australian medley also had plenty of laughs, providing a very interesting take on the Aussie Pop star from overseas.

But the favourite has to be the cabaret-esque rendition of a famous pop song of the ’90s in the style of Marlene Dietrich that makes you want to clap four times between the lines (no spoilers).

You know a show is good when you are genuinely surprised it has come to an end. The time flies when you’re having fun with Frisky and Mannish and their fresh, intelligent humour, awesome musicality and crazy characters, leaving you wanting hours more of the same.