Just Who The Hell Is Elle Sejean? you may ask. At the end of this show, you will probably be none the wiser, but have a pleasant time not finding out.
Elle had a curious stage persona for a cabaret artist. She had a rather jaded attitude with a wandering attention span, whereas others would be enthusiastic and in your face. I was unsure whether this was a deliberate character being portrayed or just a case of Elle’s mind being elsewhere this particular evening. This resulting show was far from polished, ambling along at a lazy pace that some may find endearingly rough around the edges while others may dismiss as underdone. Her constant references to “winding the show up soon and getting the hell out of there” certainly didn’t exhibit an artist enjoying the performance, instead one that was merely going through the motions.
While there were a number of humorous moments her comic material wasn’t particularly strong, resulting in many awkward pauses where she was clearly expecting bigger laughs than she actually received. There were plenty of lucrative ideas in the material she covered that garnered giggles and smiles rather than chuckles.
Elle’s strength was in the songs that she performed accompanied by a pianist. She had a wonderful voice that carried these tunes well. We were treated to a couple of Queen classics, a (possibly) traditional Irish ballad and several original tunes. These originals (as well as her musical “thank you list”) were attempts at humorous songs that had great ideas at their core, but were slightly over long and repetitive.
This was an enjoyable way to spend thirty of your time, but wasn’t quite as humorous or polished as it promised.
For booking details and further information visit the Fringe Website