‘Flo & Joan: Alive on Stage’ – Amazon Comedy Special Review
I hadn’t previously seen any stand-up routine from Flo and Joan, a tandem of musical comedians who sing whimsical and sometimes surprisingly biting comedic songs. The two sarcastic sisters really are easy as hell to watch and enjoy, the whole show flew by without a dull moment, something that can be pretty rare in stand-up for me these days.
The variety of songs discuss so many different things in a way that is catchy and entertaining, and they manage to push through some of their world views along the way, thrusting some judgments of humanity into their vocals that are pretty damn hilarious. Some might find there’s a lot of negativity and cynicism to their set, and there is I guess, but it works well with the random shots of hope and tenderness along the way. They truly manage to add some really sweet lyrics into their songs, even when you’ve spend most of the song hearing a whole pile of hilarious and unpredictable one-liners. It’s done very well.
As someone totally unfamiliar with these guys, I was really impressed with their style and had a great deal of fun listening to their music. I’m a fan of comedy and music as a concept (Tim Minchin and Stephen Lynch come to mind), and Flo and Joan nail it. There’s a confident strut to what they have to say, a manner of making fun of themselves and everyone else, and that is always nice to see. No-one, including themselves, are counted out of a joke. It’s free of prejudice because, really, nobody is avoided of a nudge, a wink and a little joke. It’s got to be said, too… there’s a lot of truth to be found here. These aren’t fantasy songs, but rather songs with sudden bombs of honesty played with a straight face.
Song-wise, the stand-outs for me were the “Linda the Lady of the Woods” song, complete with recorder solo, “I Drank Too Much”, a hilarious song about binge-drinking and a song about sex robots. There really isn’t a dud here though, which is remarkable.
With plenty of songs that usually go down a storm, and with some fun interactions with the audience, the entire show has a lovely flow and a barrage of laugh-out-loud moments. It’s folksy, poppy, cute, silly, surprising and as much pure fun as I’ve had watching stand-up in quite a while. This comedy special should, if people discover these two sisters, do well. Hopefully people see it. It’s great fun.
