Fascinating Aida in Absolutely Fascinating: What's the Word I'm Looking For?
It took about two and a half songs from Fascinating Aida, the trio of Brit comedian vocalists I was sent to review, to convince me that I must buy one of their CDs during intermission. I would have come up with that idea sooner, but laughing too hard tends to stifle coherent thought. Their show (and new CD) Absolutely Fascinating is certainly... what's the word I'm looking for... Fetching? Fabulous? Fantastic? Oh, I'll come up with the proper f-word eventually.
This honey of an act, a frequent West End visitor with three Olivier nominations, sings often outlandish, occasionally naughty and feverishly catchy little ditties with the kind of reserved elegance that leaves you off-guard when they briefly touch on subjects like sphincters and golden showers. The lyrical density and lightly flippant humor of their collection have a Noel Coward-ish quality, but every so often they'll knock in some Tom Lehrer-style brazenness.
They sing of ordinary annoyances like lovers who aren't quite what they seem...
His nice white teeth came out at night,
And the sock down his jeans was what made them tight;
Oh, my shattered illusions!
...to less everyday subjects like genetic mutation:
Dear little two-headed baby,
Darling wee lamb,
How lucky I am;
Double the brains of an ordinary child
Asleep in a Y-shaped pram.
As "Anti-death-penalty whites" they lament, "I know the criminal classes suffer from social deprivation / But when I got mugged last Tuesday all I could think of was castration.", and if the horrors of modern society are getting you down, you may want to sing along with, "Suddenly New Zealand (Doesn't Seem So Boring)".
Although German cabaret has been a common target for spoofing ever since Marlene first learned to sit sideways in a chair, the three minutes which followed, "Doesn't matter if you sing out of tune / So long as you're German." were among the funniest I've seen all season. I seriously needed to adjust my jaw back into its sockets before I could start laughing.
Formed in 1983, the members of Fascinating Aida have been mixing and matching several times over. The current edition includes founding members Dillie Keane and Adele Anderson (who write most of the lyrics, set to Keane's music) and newcomer Liza Pullman. Directed with simple silliness by Simon Green, all three are delectably daffy and talk and sing in those cute little accents we Americans always gush over.
Musical director Russell Churney plays Zeppo to these three Marxian sirens and occasionally joins in the festivities using more than just his talented fingers. In "Yes, But Is It Art?" he dapperly patters, "I proved the critics quite wrong who said that painting was dead / I bought a can of Dutch Boy and I stippled my head."
Wait... I think I've come up with the most accurate word possible to describe Fascinating Aida in Absolutely Fascinating... They are quite simply fasci--- No, wait... I bet someone's used that one already.
Photos by Andy Bradshaw: Top: Liza Pulman, AdeleAnderson and Dillie KeaneBottom: Dillie Keane, Liza Pulman and Adele Anderson
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