Evelyn Evelyn

121329 original

“Now we’re going to do something a little out of the ordinary,” the sinister ragged ringmaster informs the audience. Well, he’s already shunted on stage Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer disguised as siamese twin to a conspicuously-goateed Jason Webley and coaxed them with a Twix ‘til they play a single piano one-handedly and lilt passive-aggressive laments with laughter beaks. Just how unusual can this get? A ramshackle shadow-puppet show answers this, though it’s quickly shredded to rip-roaring pieces. Everything about Evelyn Evelyn is bespoke, from the costumes to the four-night Fringe run, but the best part of their eccentricity is just how winningly funny it is.

Palmer certainly has enough talent and personality for a second body. Her typically murderous nursery-rhyme lyrics are here appropriated for the likes of ‘You Only Want Me ‘Cause You Want My Sister’. Webley as her other hand is rather over-powered. His voice doesn’t quite reach Palmer’s sublime levels. Still, someone’s got to hold the left side of the accordion/guitar/ukelele that the two share with bewildering proficiency.

Conjoining hoax with cabaret act Evelyn Evelyn’s catchy numbers mostly riff off their own conjoined status, but they’re so good you almost wish they'd move on to new areas. That is, until closing number ‘My Space’ – it's just about MySpace. Could their act then be apt metaphor for how we’ve all grown internet personas uncomfortably moulded to us? Perhaps, but Evelyn Evelyn is mostly a light-hearted freak show that complies to both musical comedy and health and safety standards.