With a title like ‘The Foxy Morons: I ♥ A Sunburnt C*ntry’ it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that this is a show entirely devoid of subtlety.
Loosely framed around a tourist guide to Brisbane, cabaret performers Xanthe Jones and Phoebe B take the audience through a journey of song, dance, comedy and pretty much any other entertainment medium you can imagine.
The show (9 June at Brisbane Powerhouse) is quick witted, fast paced and delivered with such high energy that you feel exhausted just watching them. It’s a tour-de-force of modern, cultural touchpoints covering everything from colloquialism to colonialism.
With the show framed as a tourist guide, it should come as no surprise that sketches covered things such as there being nothing to do in Brisbane, the tribulations of a sausage sizzle and the shortcomings of the local cuisine. However, all of that is garnish to the real essence of the show which is a subversive, feminist and political satire that sucker punches you with edgy commentary delivered through innocent smiles.
It’s when the subjects touch upon more controversial issues such as white supremacy, refugees and sexual consent that the show really comes into its own. A song about the ridiculousness of the taxation of female sanitary products proved a highlight being not just topical but a real earworm too.
They nail the balance between entertainment and commentary time and time again, never quite leaving the viewer understanding what exactly it is that they’re watching, but enjoying every minute of it. When these lines are interspersed with relatively innocuous, observational comedy, you sometimes have to do a double take to figure out “did she just say what I thought she said?”.
Part of the reason it works so well is the clear chemistry and confidence of the two performers, critical to the success of dealing with such heavyweight subjects. They build enough of a trust with the audience to intersperse silly dancing to EDM with a rant about Pauline Hanson and make it feel almost natural.
When a technical issue came up with a video that was supposed to play but didn’t, it was unclear as to whether this was a genuine failure or part of the show.
Both are clearly talented performers with Xanthe’s singing voice being mind-blowingly good yet integrated with humble moderation. Part of the charm is in this lack of fanfare, not getting hung up on one aspect or basking in self-congratulation.
Despite me being British – and missing out on some of the cultural references – the themes were strong enough to translate even if I didn’t fully understand every name. There was enough silliness, variety and diversity to have stretched the thing out for hours, instead crammed into an hour, bursting at the seams.
I left feeling like I wanted to go again to catch the bits that I missed the first time around, a true sign of a great show.
