Review by Steve Bennett

Marny Godden is an intriguing prospect, reminiscent at her best of the insane, surreal intensity of Matt Lucas’s George Dawes, but ultimately pole-axed by her heavy reliance on audience participation that leaves her nowhere to turn when it struggles.

An odd cove, she opens her solo debut as trilby-wearing wheeler-dealer Mick, repetitively singing the show’s delightfully meaningless title, offering us the hour’s entertainment as shadily as if he were offering some knock-off merchandise from his lock-up.

Such a peculiar anthemic chant hammers in the punchline – not the only time she uses ceaseless reiteration to drive a silly gag home. And it’s effective, since her distinctive, odd creations are already memorable, from the Hoover-obsessed cleaner to Little Wula an Italian-American with SuperMario moustache singing an engagingly peculiar alphabet-based song; from an ardent and earnest cat-lover turned ‘poo detective’ to Moses himself.

They all make a strong initial impact, but not all can sustain the gag, Judaism’s top prophet proving the biggest case in point. The lovelorn, slightly peculiar old man hoping that owning Saab would prove an aphrodisiac is something of a one-joke idea, too.

That’s really Godden’s weakness across the whole hour; that each scene tends to be overplayed, with the eccentric characters overstaying their welcome. She uses the baffled audience to extend the life of the skits – but with reluctant victims, this too often seemed just quietly embarrassing rather than taking off to the heights of hilarity she might have hoped.

Yet Godden – from sketch trio The Grandees – is a bewitching performer under the cheap costumes, committed to maintaining a clownish innocence to her work. Even when she’s changing, she keeps silent eye contact, a surprisingly effective technique to maintain the mystery of what oddball is coming next.

As a statement of intent, Flap ‘Em On The Gate marks her out as a distinctive voice in a crowded character comedy market, even if she’s in need of a bit more self-discipline, direction and sense of purpose with audience participation to fully capitalise on that.

Review date: 31 Aug 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Underbelly Cowgate