EDINBURGH 2023: Review: DR BONK'S MACARBARET, Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly, Main Room

As someone who is a scaredy cat but loves morbid humour and wanted to test my boundaries during the Fringe, I decided to give Dr. Bonk’s Macarbaret a try.

The show, hosted by Edinburgh’s only living plague doctor, Dr. Bonk (played by Eliott Simpson), is a cabaret that promises “laughs, scares, and gore galore in this madcap hour of madness.” Dr. Bonk is a plague doctor who has been working for over 400 years with a terrible track record, leading to many jokes about the deaths of his patients and some hilarious gags involving body parts. A voice is given to him through an unseen narrator, as it’s a bit difficult to speak with a plague mask on! Dr. Bonk is constantly jumping around, sometimes even “taking care” of audience members with a stethoscope and other medically-themed props. 

On the night that I attended the Macarbaret, the acts included Magenta Lust, Friz Frizzle, Ian TC, and Eddy MacKenzie. Magenta Lust did a morbid burlesque performance to “Get Down With the Sickness,” which worked perfectly in the theme of the cabaret and had some fun performance, even though it was quite restricted by the small space. I loved her costume design and her dedication to the grotesque vibes of the night!

While Friz Frizzle did have some fun bits with his musical comedy, it seemed like he was quite unprepared and many of the notes were off and lyrics were forgotten. The performance slowed the energy down quite a bit, especially coming after Magenta Lust’s enthusiastic performance and Dr. Bonk’s ridiculous comedy. The next act, Ian TC as Dr. Hoose, had a great standup bit about alcohol that was well done, even if it didn’t exactly fit the spooky vibe. Even though MacKenzie’s performance wasn’t very spooky (making Magenta Lust the only act on brand), his songs were an absolute delight and helped end the show on a high. I am so glad to have been introduced to his work and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future. 

Ultimately, Dr. Bonk’s Macarbaret has a delightful host in Dr. Bonk himself, but most of the acts fail to really fit in with the spooky vibe of the show, taking away from the cabaret and its horror theme as a whole. To be quite honest, I would have been happy with just an hour of Dr. Bonk and his antics, especially the prop-based dark humour.

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