Review by Steve Bennett at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Spangly vulva shoulder pads. That costume detail pretty much sums up Glittery Clittery – an all-singing sparkle-filled cabaret show with a strong message of female empowerment set to cracking showtunes. Fringe Wives Club, the trio behind this, certainly put the ‘beat’ into ‘beat the patriarchy’.

A celebration of the vagina, it’s about owning sexuality and celebrating consent. Even audience members pulled up stage have to give a clear verbal ‘yes’, free of peer pressure, before participating – a nice touch. And there were a couple of legends who volunteered from the crowd tonight, adding their own jokes to the fun.

Irresistibly energetic Tessa Walters is the engine of the show, running entirely on grade-A sass. But someone’s got to wear the 6ft model of a vulva and that task falls upon the game Rowena Hutson, who also bought an engaging monologue to the party. Completing the trio is Victoria Falconer-Pritchard, of East End Cabaret fame, providing much of the playful soundtrack to the celebratory shenanigans on a handful of instruments, but with a story or two of her own too.

Songs about sexuality include a ballad dedicated to creepy Robin Thicke and a toe-tapper celebrating the ‘lady boner’. There’s an informative monologue about the sexist history of pockets, and a quiz about the ‘lagoon of mystery’, the late Carrie Fisher’s name for her lady parts – although that goes on just a bit too long as the trio are keen to teach us something.

However, the tone is always jubilant, never preachy or lecturey. ‘Glamtavism’ what they are trying to call their combination of feminism and fun – although don’t expect this portmanteau, even uglier than ‘Brexit’, to catch on.

If you enjoyed Luisa Omielan’s similarly party-vibed stand-up shows with a message, her cabaret cousins in the Fringe Wives Clubs will be right up your… well, insert your own euphemism here.

Review date: 18 Apr 2017
Reviewed by: