COMEDY
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Jo and Brydie Play Doctor
Gilded Balloon

Jo and Brydie are close friends who have written this material with the intention of playing doctor with the audience in order to heal each other, from real or perceived issues.  The concept behind the show is to detail all the parts of their friend’s respective personality they feel needs changing, and together they’ll work at healing it.  These philosophy and women’s studies majors-come-childrens entertainers are naturals on stage, and not even a small audience put them off. (I went to see this on the day the rain was falling in bucketfuls)   In a definite demonstration of professional performers unphased by typical festival trends, they simply adapted the show to include more audience interaction than would normally be included. We were all asked our names, and given some confetti to throw over the pair when we felt something particularly exciting was happening.

Some of the issues Jo and Brydie tackled for each other were ‘Brydie has too many feelings’; ‘Jo Can’t Do Accents’‘; ‘Brydie is a sick little girl”; ‘Jo’s mum is dead’  and many more. Each of these topics provides the backdrop for comedic gems, where the problems aren’t necessarily tackled but the duo decide best how to work to cope with the problems that ensue from these. The parting conclusion is rather cheesily and predictably that the friends don’t actually want to change each other; however the exploration of flaws and issues that affect us all – peppered with Jo and Brydie’s unconventional humour – provides an interesting hour of comedy.

Jo and Brydie have a fantastic ease with the audience, as well as having well polished material and fantastic DIY props.  I particularly liked the musical backdrop for the show, which was a series of fantastic megamixes and tunes including Peaches, Ja Rule and Beyonce.  The first sketch was entirely through the medium of music, with Brydie coming onto Jo through song lyrics and Jo shunning her advances also via the mechanism of song.  Bold but not breaking any comedic barriers, this is a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.