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Camden Fringe: Herding Cats, Etcetera Theatre

Part of the Camden Fringe 2013
Written and directed by Kitten Killers

★★★
Pros: This show will make you laugh until your sides hurt.
Cons: Overall it needed some polishing to help it come together.
Our Verdict: The four girls deliver an amusing show filled with unexpected jokes, mime, and songs. Very watchable!
Courtesy of the Camden Fringe
An evening at Etcetera Theatre usually starts with a drink before the show. I don’t think any drink could have prepared me for the evening of wackiness, laughter and inappropriateness that lay ahead! Herding Cats, by the all-female sketch group Kitten Killers, had me go from shocked, to holding on to my ribs so they wouldn’t burst, in seconds. Their programme reads “ask yourself how far is too far” and without doubt you keep this question in mind when watching the daring comedians. But the truth is that when Kitten Killers take things too far, it is sidesplitting.
Fran Bushe, Kat Cade, Kate Lennon and Perdita Stott put on a series of quick fast-paced comic sketches that turn everyday scenarios into a bomb of hysteria, songs, pandas and the occasional light-sabre battle. There are gynecologists that practice magic whilst in session (and I mean, right in session), packs of wrathful bridesmaids, some kitten-killing nuns, a socially-awkward-treky song. And I must warn you: you may never be able to face any movie by Johnny Deep ever again. Or drink tea.
The show needs some polishing; a better flow between sketches and a more rounded presentation would have perfected the evening. But the group more than made up for it with enthusiasm, energy and some dubious, but highly ingenious, vocals. The girls perform without a shred of bashfulness and when they get going mouths drop, eyes bulge and laughter pours from every corner in the theatre.

Herding Cats is Kitten Killers’ first full-length show and from what I could see interesting things are coming our way! I certainly hope to see more of them.
My only regret: I should have ‘boldly gone’ to the girls after the performance when I saw them hanging out at the Oxford Arms and asked them to teach me the “socially-awkward-treky” song.
Seen the show yourself? Agree or disagree? Submit your own review with our Camden Fringe Big Audience Project!

Herding Cats has finished its run at Etcetera Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe. For more information follow Kitten Killers on twitter: https://twitter.com/KittenKillers

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