Funny Women is presenting its first ever Comedy Cabaret on Tuesday 23rd April at the Leicester Square Theatre! Lindsay Sharman, cabaret artiste and performer extraordinaire tells us about this splendid artform….
Cabaret! What is cabaret, you hoot? Well, I'm not going to go into the history of it, but I'd describe most contemporary cabaret as theatrical, female/LGBT-centric variety-comedy.
And what the hell does that mean, you quite understandably ask?
Let's start with my assertion that it's female/LGBT-centric. Go to any cabaret night and you'll witness it; women and the LGBT community are very well-represented. Perhaps that's why cabaret is so 'theatrical'; because we love a jazz-hand and an OTT torch-song, don't we girls??
Cabaret, even when it's aiming straight for the comedy jugular, definitely has a sense of drama. Hair-pieces and quirky style choices abound, and most of the performers look attractive from a distance because they're caked in three inches of make-up. Up close they look like Baby Jane. If you cop off with a cabaret performer, you'll end up with an exact replica of their face imprinted on your pillow case. You could frame it and start building a gallery to your greasy-faced conquests; or stitch their faces into a fabulous dress, write a song about it and become a cabaret performer.
I believe that the costumes and make-up indicate something fundamental about cabaret; that it is entertainment based in gleefully heightened reality and often rooted in the body. It's about clowning, movement, celebrating the female (including drag), the glamorous and the grotesque.
At its best it's visceral. And of course, that's why music plays such a large part in cabaret, because nothing evokes an emotional response quite like a song.
I love good cabaret. It's fun and silly and touching and grotesque and gorgeous and absurd. LIFE IS A CABARET, OLD CHUM! COME TO THE CABARET!
Book your tickets for the Funny Women Comedy Cabaret on 23rd April HERE
Lindsay Sharman (pictured) is character actress and cabaret supremo, was a finalist in the Funny Women Awards, formerly Hackney Empire New Act of The Year Awards, and the Piccadilly New Act of the Year Awards'. Watch her in action at her Youtube Channel!
