Review: KATIE PRITCHARD: DISCO BALL, VAULT Festival

"Everyone is beautiful even if they're dressed as a pavlova"

Katie Pritchard: Disco Ball is a one-woman show featuring, as you may have guessed, Katie Pritchard, the "carnage-wielding, mayhem-manifesting, award-winning human disco ball". The show is meant to be a party, and Pritchard is determined to deliver, homemade costumes and all.

Pritchard pokes fun at herself several times throughout the show, including the hilarious quote, "Only a truly lonely person could be writing this level of nonsense". But, luckily for us, there was a lonely person who was able to create this masterpiece of a show, no matter how nonsensical it may be. There are songs about KP Nuts, the 127 2-syllable words that can be used in Scrabble, and even a burglar with a fetish for toes.

The absolute highlight of the night for me was a bit that left me in tears of laughter about how Pritchard wishes that Robert DeNiro of The Irishman had been in Cats. The song is hilarious and includes bits like DeNiro saying "Me-f-ing-ow" and going full method by trying actual catnip. I must also give Pritchard kudos for her brilliant drawing of DeNiro as a cat, which is just as strange as the 2019 movie is.

The final song of the night begins as Pritchard dressed in a trash bag singing Mulan's "Reflection" before she literally transforms into a disco ball in a glorious costume transformation (according to the audio-description, the costume took three days to make!). Pritchard takes the transformation one step further, but I'm not going to spoil the fun! But, if you are one of those people that constantly ask saxophone players to play "Baker Street," you might be in for a treat!

Praise must be given to Pritchard's musical abilities. It's not just her songs that are brilliant - her voice is a gorgeous mix of powerful and sweet, sometimes leaving me with goosebumps. In her gospel-like song about people giving her unwanted advice (which she then gives to the audience), there are some truly insane riffs that left me in shock at her range. She also has some great dance moves!

Ultimately, Katie Pritchard: Disco Ball is an absolute delight that will have you shaking from laughter, but it is also a powerful anthem to being yourself and not letting others tell you what to do. Pritchard is both an incredible musician and a hilarious comedian, quickly winning the audience over with her giggling and bubbly personality. To quote Pritchard, "You're a disco ball"!

Katie Pritchard: Disco Ball ran at the VAULT Festival on 23 and 24 February in The Spacement at The Glitch

Photo Credit: VAULT Festival

VAULT Festival has been left without a venue for next year. You can contribute to the #SaveVAULT campaign here.

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