CABARET

Frisky and Mannish

Interview by Jen Perry

Frisky (Laura Corcoran) and Mannish (Matthew Floyd Jones) are Perth Fringe World institutions. Performing at the pilot festival in 2011, Frisky and Mannish have returned nearly every year since. Known for their brilliantly witty takes on Top 40 Hits and audience instructionals on how to be pop stars, Laura delivers searing vocals as Matthew provides harmony and plays keyboard. This year the pair have debuted a new kind of show with Frisky and Mannish: CabaRIOT, which comes across as more politically pointed and rage-filled than earlier runs.

Matthew admits their shows have become a community “gateway” to Fringe; perfect for punters who are yet to dip their toes into the riskier fare on offer. An offering of highly infectious, satirical pop music provides a warm welcome to cabaret specifically, and the diversity of Fringe World at large. CabaRIOT, however, arrives on Perth shores with something more important to say.

Both Laura and Matthew agree CabaRIOT is their artistic reaction to the worldwide onslaught of misery and general bad news. As they found themselves more ardently discussing impoverishment in UK housing developments than pop music mash-ups, they decided to craft a show that tackles everything from feminism and refugees to the accepted language around gender and sexual difference.

At first, they were anxious that in bringing this politically charged material to the stage, some audience members might feel alienated. So far, Laura has found the opposite to be true, while Matthew wonders whether they’re “preaching to the converted.”

The duo have a knack for creating comedy from stark and oftentimes disheartening subject matters. At one stage in their act, they demarcate the audience into three categories based on where they’re sitting: best, rest and scum. The implications go further when two audience members are forcibly removed from their seats and marooned. It was important to the performers that the language of this skit clearly stated “refugee” and that any allusions to the plight of millions be referenced as boldly as possible. Speaking to an Australian audience with a recent High Court decision looming over its collective conscience, the message will certainly be received.

Frisky and Mannish’s act works so well because despite this emphasis on rage and discontent, they manage to find the “positive angle.” They turn our hypothetical rage screams into full-on belly laughs. Here’s hoping they continue to engage and inspire us for future Fringe seasons to come.

Frisky and Mannish: CabaRIOT runs until Tuesday February 9th at The West Australian Spiegeltent in The Pleasure Garden. After that, they’re both off to Hong Kong for a few shows before Laura returns to Perth to reprise her role in La Soirée.