reviewing pre-Edinburgh Festival comedy act The Domestic Goddi
The joy of watching the Domestic Goddi at work is there is no ‘dead time’.
They burst onto the stage to the tune of the song ‘We’re All In This Together’ from High School Musical. The lyrics are adapted to create the girls’ own cheer-leading introduction. An energetic entrance is a sign of things to come, as Rosie Wilkinson and Helen O’Brien whizz off the stage and return a few seconds later, minus the pom-poms, ready to begin.
A series of sketches include a spoof TV show, introduced by the music from Top Gear, but the girls’ version is called Hot Gear.
Tonight’s edition is a shoe special, featuring ‘The Jimmy Choo See-Through 200’. This marvel boasts 200bap, (break ankle power), and shoots straight to the top of the show’s “List of lovely shoes to taunt the viewers with, because they can’t afford them.”
We are also invited to visit the website to cast our vote for our favourite shoes, including “the pair that’s almost the same as three other pairs which you already own, but you’ve had a bad day, so you should buy them anyway.”
Another favourite was “part of Radio 4’s Menopausal Women Do The Funniest Things season”. We meet ‘Bear Woman’, the self-appointed guardian of a flock (sic) of bears in China. She is looking for something which twenty childless, sexless, pet-less years of marriage failed to provide, and so has devoted her time to these creatures. She speaks of the mutual respect she shares with the local villagers, and an earnest voice-over explains that the locals were asked what they thought of this woman’s sacrifice.
The translated response is, “She’s fucking crazy, and she stinks. Last week the whole village climbed the mountain to throw shit at her.” Bear Woman is undaunted: She will always treasure the memory of being honoured by the ancient ritual of dung throwing.
Between each sketch there are adverts played over the PA for things such as scents and beauty products. For the latter there is the familiar technological guff about containing dermo-genesis-thermo-peptite-bollocks, along with the inspired addition of “albino puppy extract”. And an example of the tag-line? “Because you can take fat from your arse and put it in your face.” Who could want for more?
Another voice-over gem in-between sketches was the dramatic, “Get out now, I’m here to help … Put down the weapon.” This continued in a more conversational tone: “One week I’m disarming someone; the next I’m trying to disperse an unruly mob. It’s all part of the job.” A different voice takes over and suggests, “If you want to hear more go to Teachingjobs.co.uk.”
The many sketches and songs are great, and are linked seamlessly by the spoof adverts.
The downside to this incessant delivery, of course, is the difficulty of getting your breath back having laughed solidly for an hour. It is easy to imagine this format on television. You never know, that might be the girls’ next move.
Andy Sylvester is a writer, stay-at-home dad, and beer connoisseur
Sixty second set for Metro on You Tube
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