20th October: Frisky and Mannish at The Lowry

Arriving late and being uneducated in what the Frisky and Mannish experience involved, I admit I lacked the necessary enthusiasm for the duo’s introductory round of audience participation that had already begun.

Fighting the initial urge to run straight back out of the door, the show gathered momentum and we couldn’t help but pick up the infectious energy of their cabaret-comedy stylings.  

The duo:  Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones, the latter clothed in the typical attire of Dick/Dom off of Cbeebies, manage to pull off a potentially heinous sugar-pop Gaga look.

The format of a Pop Centre Plus was a good vehicle for presenting their many musical numbers but it felt a little desperate at times. I can’t decide if the clunky filing cabinet and desk-piano hybrid, combined with their extreme over-acting was brilliant or just plain annoying. With her amazing singing voice, Corcoran can imitate anyone from Adele to Kate Bush yet her comedy became shrill and shouted on occasion.

However any comedian who can disarm their audience to the extent that a 65 year old man was willing to be sat on, onstage, by his four new “band mates”, and photographed must be a winner.