5 stars
The Fxxk Yxu Proms are a whole festival’s worth of fxxkery gloriously, lavishly delivered in a four hour assault on your sensibilities.
These showcases are great to see, particularly early in a festival’s run when you’re deciding what to see over the coming weeks, but they’re really more of a marketing exercise than a show unto themselves. It can be somewhat pointless to review a series of preview shows. Not so with the Fxxk Yxu Proms.
The venue itself is amazing, bedecked in a range of horrific decorations. It’s like walking through the prop department of a Spanish slasher film studio. The creative direction on show is astounding and promises much for the four week run. In the Fxxk Yxu Proms, Tomás Ford has engineered a dagger straight to the heart of normalcy.
Image courtesy of Buttered Bronson
With an incredibly varied blend of acts on display, you’ll see performance poetry about love, and rimming, and loss. Then, a bearded gentleman screams at you to a backing of electronic music and alternately smears himself with and bites huge chunks out of a block of butter.
The evening progresses with the most vulgar of stand-up, a delightful ukulele palate cleanser, off-beat storytelling, a filthy set of bluesy rock and roll, and an interactive text adventure. Tomás Ford is a wonderful MC and delivers regular doses of his own electro-cabaret brilliance.
Image courtesy of Justice Yeldham
The grand finale is phenomenal and despite everything that has come before, still manages to raise the bar even further. An unassuming fellow plays a large shard of glass with his face until it breaks. He stands, bloody and resplendent before a shell-shocked audience.
It’s a true cabaret experience. It’s a true fringe experience. And there is but one more chance to see The Fxxk Yxu Proms, then it is gone. Take that chance.
GLEN SEABROOK-BENSON