Flo & Joan

Rosie and Nicola Dempsey are self-deprecating, self-proclaimed, singing, spinster sisters. And that’s not even the most alliterated line in the show. They sing and talk – frequently straying off-topic – and keep the packed theatre entertained with a wonderful combination of biting lyric, supreme musicality (jazz on a recorder, anyone?) and sublime harmonies.

Songs about looking for love, and over-indulging (‘Drank Too Much’) provoke plenty of laughter from their incisive and sometimes surprising lyrics – but often with sharp edges. Despite their hilarious ridiculousness, the situations remain recognisable and relatable. Flo & Joan have the magic to make anything funny in song: getting a fringe, school musicals, and mind-boggling ornaments that they’re scared to inherit. Even if you’re familiar with their back-catalogue, there’s plenty of new material here.

Their wit flies fast through spoken word too – their conversations on arriving in Adelaide, touring the world, and going back home, don’t always touch the funny bone they’re going for, but they come quick enough for another gem to sparkle a few seconds later.

They’re both musically brilliant – between them they are an accomplished pianist, skilled percussionist, amazing recorder players, and bedazzled shaker. Their voices harmonise beautifully – sometimes the focus is on their wonderful music, rather than the humorous lyrics.

Flo & Joan are a little of Victoria Wood and a bit more of Tim Minchin, and their deadpan songs mix musical styles from Dolly Parton to Folk – ‘Lady in the Woods’ is an affectionate poke in the eye to bizarre, old songs that have long since lost their context. Sometimes the laughter is tempered with the realities of women’s safety, which hit hard; sometimes the laughter from picturing these two sharing cold food in anonymous hotel rooms dies with the sadness that even these stars don’t have glamourous lives.

Their sung letter to their younger selves, ‘Little Flo & Joan’, provokes huge laughs, yet also manages to promote positivity about not searching for perfection, instead how to live well, to ‘eat it all and make mistakes’. The mistake here is that there’s only one hour of Flo & Joan, and it’s just not long enough.

Review by Mark Wickett

Photographer: Claudio Raschella