Musical comedian Josh Earl has really hit on something that taps into a very special corner of the Australian psyche with the premise of his new show. It probably shouldn’t be called Josh Earl ‘versus’ the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book, since he’s clearly a massive fan of this venerable tome, and judging by the audience reaction pretty much anyone who grew up in Australia in the eighties is as well. As a kiwi I didn’t have quite the personal connection with this book that most of the crowd seemed to be having, but even I couldn’t fail to be charmed by both the incredible cakes that were displayed throughout the show and Josh Earl’s extremely affable, breezy personality.
The structure of the show is mostly a PowerPoint presentation as Earl guides the audience through some of his favourite cakes in the book, and points out the ludicrousness of others (it’s amazing how much you don’t notice is wrong with the pirate cake until it is pointed out to you!). From time to time, Earl picks up his guitar and sings a few songs inspired by the cookbook, such as the train-cake disappointment. At other times he moves to his typewriter to pen a series of letters to Ita Buttrose, former Women’s Weekly editor. It all moves along at a very smooth pace and the audience felt very comfortable with Josh, happy to call out who’d had what cakes made for them and when.
If I had to sum up this gig in one word it would be ‘delightful’. There is not even a pinch of cynicism in this hour, it really is just one massive love letter not just to cakes, but to the joy it was to be a six-year old having his birthday. The closing montage of audience-submitted photos of cakes of their youth was not just very funny, but also quite moving. We spilled out of the show feeling a sort of happy buzz that life (and cakes) could be so sweet. I fully recommend this show. If you have any memories of getting an incredible cake from your mum as a kid, I recommend it twice.
Josh Earl vs. the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book runs until April 18 at the Swiss Club. For full booking details go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival website