Yummy – quick links
Yummy offers high production value made for a sophisticated palette and punters alike. Yummy will have you frothing, foaming and fan-girling. Decadence: 10 Years of Yummy is this year’s Melbourne Fringe offering from producer Mia Goreng with nare a rhinestone out of place, the culmination of ten years of offerings from the Yummy universe.
Every single moment was dripping in that decade of experience. No step was out of place, no moment is wasted, every second is impeccably solid.
MC Valerie Hex
The show is hosted by MC Valerie Hex (every time she is on the microphone she is an utter delight), who promises that Yummy will make you ‘queerer, trans-er’ – and all while delivering maximum glamour. Hex describes herself as a giant cavernous hole dedicated to meat, so Melbourne’s Meat Market venue made her feel right at home.
Hex also gives a masterclass in how to deliver a sincere and genuine Acknowledgement of Country.
The opening number offers a stunning group choreography featuring costumes sharing a metallic red and gold palette that evokes a dance troupe consisting of individually wrapped treats – the whole cast are well versed and well rehearsed.
Our amuse-bouche to awaken our salivating palettes consists of masterful hooping by Hannie Helsden in a delicious, nostalgic reimagining of I Dream of Genie. Next up the knives are out on the dancefloor with a drag hors devours that the audience ate up greedily.
Yummy: showstoppers
Yummy offers showstopper after showstopper, from mindbending contortionist Soliana all the way to an incredibly extremely comedic live vocal performance by Milo Hartill about baking, group ballroom and vogue choreo, fantastic fan dancing from Velma Vouloir (who still finds the time for making some very zany sandwiches).
The humour is on point, the casting is correct, the variety of circus, drag and burlesque is perfectly balanced with high notes that are humorous, undertones that compliment the cohesion of the cast and ultimately connect the audience.
This year’s Melbourne Fringe cabaret and circus programme seems to be quite food obsessed (could it be that artists are going hungry in the cost-of-living crisis?) but Yummy is a bold delight that stands out from the rest.
With layered storytelling and world building from the incredible Bendy Ben, offering a hot alternative take on performing on horseback that leaves attendees truly transfixed and utterly amazed. We are served magic and chain escapes that would make Houdini himself blush in his grave.
Yummy: subcultural cabaret
Yummy is an exploration of subcultural cabaret that is bringing community together and even asking them to make eye contact with one another. Stating proudly their ethos that beauty doesn’t have a gender, celebrating full bodied queer joy where we can all bask in the fabulousness of turning rhinestones into rebellion.
In a masterful display from the master of ceremonies, Hex even takes the time to thank the whole production team and their sponsors and donors, a powerful and professional touch that demonstrates how well practiced and at ease this show is in itself. There is no rush, the audience is invited to sit back, relax and mindfully savour every single bite.
If a critique was mandatory, not to spoil the fun, but the only suggested improvement that could be made to the extremely successful formula would be to more prominently feature the diverse acts in the cast. Every performer was given their moment but the focus could have been more on platforming the bodies and voices that are less likely to be seen on other stages in the circus and cabaret genre.
But as Hex said at the beginning of the show: ‘Let’s have some fucking fun!’
Decadence: 10 Years of Yummy continues from 14 to 18 October, 7pm, at the North Melbourne Meat Market as part of Melbourne Fringe.
This review was written as part of Circus.txt, a professional development program designed and delivered by Oozing Future to engage arts writers with contemporary circus and physical theatre practice, and increase the visibility of critical dialogue within the sector. This project was funded by Creative Australia through their Victorian Circus and Physical Theatre grant round.
