Hot Pink Bits Rides Again is an extremely entertaining evening, a one-woman burlesque show that combines song, dance, trivia and comedy with a strong dose of sex appeal. The scene is set even before the show begins, with the Quilt Room in the Trades Hall having been subtly transformed into the boudoir of Mistress Pink, “your hostess with the most breast.” Hot Pink uses the length and breadth of human sexuality as a jumping off point for a series of jokes that are certainly never subtle, but are a good time nonetheless.
Even if that premise may not be everyone’s cup of tea, Penny Ashton is impossible not to laugh along with on any topic, somehow managing to combine a (sometimes literally) in-your-face sexuality with a sweet, typically kiwi self-deprecating humour. Some of the jokes that might not work so well in other hands manage scrape by purely on Pink’s innately likeable personality. While the songs are mostly played for laughs, she also demonstrates a singing voice that is extremely powerful. Her natural charisma allowed her to stay breezy and comfortable with the audience for the parts of the show where she enlisted members of the audience to participate, somehow persuading them to star in a x-rated movie, simulate a group orgasm, and even perform a strip-tease for their fellow audience members.
What is perhaps most impressive about the performance is that it feels less like a stand-up comedy gig and more like an actual show, with deftly executed changes in pace between the comedy, the songs, the audience participation segments, mini-intermissions in the darkness while audio-skits play, and even some unexpected puppetry to break things up even further. By the time the proceedings had culminated into a final pull-out-all-the-stops musical number, the entire audience was applauding and cheering wildly.
At times the show does come across as a bit too ‘facty’, with long lists being read out for little or no payoff, and there was perhaps one too many songs in the mix, but these are very minor complaints amongst an otherwise nonstop string of laughter throughout the entire hour. Highly recommended.
Visit the Comedy@Trades Hall website for bookings and further details