CABARET: Yon and His Prism of Sexy Thoughts – Art Space Gallery – 3.5K

Simon Hall, better known as Yon, has swapped his Tripod bandmates for solo leading-man status and the eighties inspired musical accompaniment (all the drum machines) of Georgia Mooney and Nao Anzai.

Yon got the crowd onside straight away and knew exactly how to interact with them successfully. The demand for audience participation in the first song could be considered risky, but he is a seasoned performer and knows just how to get a room buzzing; no one seemed reticent to get involved and there was a feeling of general frivolity from the very beginning. While the vocal quality was a little variable early on, it warmed up as Yon eased into the performance and this small detriment was easily forgiven as the real focus was on the humour in the lyrics. Tracks such as ‘I’ll Go Back on the Anti-depressants if You Do Too’ are a brilliant mix of sincerity and hilarity, and had the crowd almost crying with laughter.

Given the name and concept of the show, it’s hardly surprising that the content couldn’t exactly be described as family friendly. A lot of the humour comes from going places that are further than good taste may dictate, and the talent in such an art form is knowing just how far to push things so that they’re funny and a touch risqué, but not uneasy. For the most part the jokes stayed on the right side of this line but there were certain sections when it headed a little too far south and these moments broke the flow of the otherwise highly enjoyable show.

Kryztoff Rating: 3.5K

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