Review: EDINBURGH 2024: PLASTIC JEEZUS: LEAVE THEM WANTING LESS, Underbelly, Bristo Square

“Not every boat is a gravy boat”

Plastic Jeezus: Leave Them Wanting Less, a musical comedy by Simon and Aaron, is an hour of the duo playing ukuleles and singing, all while keeping a deadpan expression on their face. A rule is quickly established by Adam - it’s all or nothing for clapping.

Either everyone claps at a song or no one does, so there aren’t any awkward moments where one or two people are clapping while the rest of the audience is sitting in silence. It’s a hilarious rule that might actually lead to more applause as no one wants to be the one not clapping, but the applause for each song is still deserved on its own.

There is a mix of short and long songs, giving some good variety to the show as a whole. Some of my favourites included Simon’s autocorrected love song to his wife titled “My Angle,” a multiple-choice love song that was created to be more relatable for audiences and a song making fun of hold music. The pair also claim to have written an album for kids titled 10 Songs About Animals and One About Osteoporosis (I would love to hear the song about osteoporosis!).

While the songs themselves are the highlights, the jokes in between are quite good as well. I particularly enjoyed one about the magpie being an organic metal detector and another bit in which Simon questions having “Artist” on his Fringe Performer lanyard. There are also some stories about past gigs, including small festivals in Dorset celebrating “cider and incest” with Morris dancers.

However, this isn’t just a song with singing and jokes - it is actually a variety show, as Aaron does a live portrait of the member of the audience. There isn’t much audience participation in the show, save for one song based on an audience member’s suggestions, so don’t worry about being musically called out.

There are some hilarious moments in which Simon or Aaron will say a one-liner that goes unacknowledged as they immediately launch into another song. This is made even funnier by neither of them cracking a smile, a fear I’m quite impressed with as I’m not known for my poker face!

The show ends with what the duo considers to be their most difficult song, a tongue twister that left me impressed with the fact that neither of them stumbled over any of the repetitive-yet-slightly-different-each-verse lyrics. And don’t worry about the show running late - the singers refuse to do an encore as they consider it to be “workplace bullying.”

Plastic Jeezus: Leave Them Wanting Less is a fun hour of musical comedy by some talented performers. Simon and Aaron have created a solid piece of work with a great balance of songs and spoken jokes.

Plastic Jeezus: Leave Them Wanting Less ran until 26 August at Underbelly, Bristo Square - Buttercup

Photo Credit: Andy Hollingworth at Peril Design

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