By Sasha Meaney
To sell out a full weekend on the opening weeks of Sydney Comedy Festival is no mean feat but the tireless energy of comedy duo Noodle Girls makes it possible. Their show, SHMOOD: Full Throttle, opened to a loving crowd of friends, family and comedy fans cheering on the magnetic Rachael Colquhoun-Fairweather and Lauren McNaught.
SHMOOD: FULL THROTTLE is a sucker punch of personality and positivity. The central characters of each sketch either love each other or love to play the game of the sketch with each other as when two neighbouring North Shore mums croon “take me home, Country Road” eyeing off each other’s lawns and linens (#ad, #sponsoredcontent). The ladies have created a runway of larger than life characters - to name only a few: coppers who will do anything for their beloved staffies “Bella”, two office ladies off for work drinks flaunting serious BME (Big, Mule Energy), and a Kris Kringle fortune teller reading the Donna Hay Christmas special cards - that the audience are bound to love.
And each character warrants their own costume change! Decking the stage are two large coat racks covered in co ordinated kits. Rest assured the team has figured out most costume changes with some tight transitioning executed by DJ Sauce (Sophie Strykowski) playing nostalgic 00s dance tracks and pre recorded audience participation. The three performers riff off each other and the audience between sketches, never letting the pace drop or the volunteers feel unsupported. Not every transition is a great bit though, some are simply lengthy costume changes, which is only noticeable in comparison to the stellar ones and because the energy for each sketch is so high. The show is colourful mayhem and clothes lay flung across the floor after each sketches hurricane.
Individually: McNaught’s dead pan is unbearably good, Colquhoun-Fairweather fabulously catapults herself on that stage with no concern for personal safety and Strykowski’s quietly charming DJ Sauce is grooving throughout. They match each other at every step with commitment to the bit, each character linked with the ladies undeniable enthusiasm but completely defined with their unique physicalities and an impressive array of character voices. The never break or corpse - a guilty pleasure of mine but undeniably an easy laugh - an impressive get considering the howls of laughter coming from the audience, and the improv they interweave throughout the show.
The energy simply does not stop with them, even in the bows they haven’t let go off the fun. Noodle Girls are ones to watch. And if you don’t they’ll probably run away with half your wardrobe. And then you’ll just be watching sadly from the sidelines in your knickers - so you better keep up.
All opinions and thoughts expressed within reviews on Theatre Travels are those of the writer and not of the company at large.