An exceptional character study and beauty industry parody by two exceptional performers
The slightly psychopathic Northern female manager of a customer service environment has never before been captured so astutely in the comedy show format. That’s a Glow Job guarantee.
Glow Job (Hall & Carss Productions) follows a cast of multi-accented characters working at Leeds’ ‘Be You But Be Better’ aesthetics clinic, all played with genuine star talent by performers Annie Hall and Jennifer Carss. BYBBB™ is in a spot of financial trouble – cost of living and whatnot. The women of the clinic are keenly aware of its looming closure, and Jilly (alias ‘The Jilly’) is keenly aware of having to return to the Morrisons’ fish counter ‘slapping fish about’. We find the clinicians scheming and grasping for ways to keep the company in business, even turning to making the ‘Tikky Tokkys’ for some social media money.
The show begins through the lens of Vanessa (“I’ll just call you Betsy” – Jilly), as she undergoes her first day at the clinic. She’s being shown the ropes (and soundproof cupboards for eating lunch) by Jilly – an exceptional performance by Annie Hall, genuinely astounding in its accuracy for that specific brand of patronising niceness favoured by general managers far and wide. They’re later accompanied by Siobhan (Hall), Irish and exasperated; and Leanne (Carss), Geordie and mental. The whole show is an absolute riot in both performance and dialogue. Each character is so well developed and completely believable: even Leanne, who is – again – kind of mental (eating raw ginger and finding solace in the lyrical poetry of Cheryl Cole). The script is peppered with so, so many bangers – there’s a lasting visual of Jilly rubbing her ‘minge’ along the carpet, having accidentally squeezed her thrush cream on top of the dog hairs.
However, there’s also some cleverly interwoven themes at play here, in and amongst the ‘Botox Queen’ mugs and the Cheryl soundtrack: namely, the inherent paradox of altering your appearance in the name of being true to yourself. It’s a complex subject matter, and Hall and Carss manage to explore it with an expert lightness and comedy that makes you forget how insane and often exploitative the whole thing is (‘thing’ being the ‘beauty industry’). Have some cellulite literally Henry Hoovered off your thighs, why not! There’s a £3,995.95 payment plan they can offer (95% deposit required).
Overall, there is not enough praise in the world for Hall and Carss’ performances: they are incredibly gifted at what they do and so incredibly funny as to make their modest Riddles Court venue feel like an arena of applause. Glow Job is an exceptional 50 minutes of two first-rate performers making a laugh a second feel like light work. Cheryl Tweedy would be proud.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/glow-job
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Pickle Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court
Dates: Aug 7th-15th
Time: 14:55 (50 mins)
Ticket prices: £15.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 18+