Get the Gobby Girls on television! I have had the privilege of seeing two Gobby Girls sketch shows now: The 11% Club at the Edinburgh Fringe and The After Party, a short run at the Soho Theatre in London, and this is exactly what is needed on our small screens!
Following in the trend of classic sketch-based television shows like Smack the Pony, The Catherine Tate Show and the more recent Lazy Susan (which also had a run at the Soho Theatre), this ensemble of incredibly talented performers, writers, directors and producers is ready to go. All the ingredients are there – great scripts, brilliant performances, excellent direction and an understanding of what it’s like to be a funny woman, whatever your age.
Acutely observed the material puts womanhood under a comic microscope without It being over crude or offensive. Vaginas are depicted as cuddly headwear and a hot flush with an array of dancing white vintage nightdresses accompanied by the sounds of Kate Bush. Men are leather clad, beer-swigging and self-absorbed or represented as testosterone fuelled characters from fairy tales.
Yes, it is very much aimed at a female audience and there is plenty of stereotyping, but it is equally metered out across the genders. All the performances are spot on, delightfully tongue in cheek, fast paced and brilliant in their teamwork. It’s rendered even more remarkable by the fact that in this latest Soho Theatre production, The After Party, they only had a day to rehearse all together before the first show went up.
Gobby Girls – The After Party, is a collaboration between Gobby Girl Productions and Female Pilot Club. There is still a lack of balance when it comes to female generated broadcast content, and the writers’ room is still not as diverse as it should be. We need a more comical perspective on women’s physicality and the absurdity of periods, childbirth and menopause, all themes tackled in this latest show.
Award-winning scripted producer Gina Lyons, who has long been a champion for women in comedy, co-directs The After Party, with Female Pilot Club founder Kay Stonham and Alex Hardy, a Funny Women Award-winning comedy writer, director and producer. For more details about all the performers read this article here.
It’s a triumph and as I’ve already said – give them a telly show!
