Review of Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe ‘n’ Stuff – Fringe 2023

Birdy didn’t know what to expect from this surreal comedy show from multi-award winning comedian Cheekykita – apart from the fact it involved an octopus! An absolute delight.

DISCLAIMER: Although Edinburgh Reviews are supporting PBH’s Free Fringe with an ad in the ‘wee blue book’, we are reviewing shows from both the Laughing Horse and PBH’s Free Fringe, all of which will be reviewed fairly and without bias.

Quite a large crowd had gathered in Maggie’s Front Room of The Three Sisters in the Cowgate, and my first thought was ‘this bodes well’ as I managed to secure a seat in the front row.

Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe and ‘n’ Stuff

This was my first time seeing the critically acclaimed Cheekykita, and didn’t really know anything about her humour, or what the show was about – effectively, I was going in blind. In fact, when the lights were turned down and we were all told to shut our eyes, I was literally going in blind, too!

Before I obediently shut my eyes, I did see Cheekykita coming out on all fours with some swimming goggles on, as she whispered in a raspy voice to turn out the lights, shut our eyes and ‘shut the door’ all in her English Northern accent. It just got wilder from there, really.

Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe ‘n’ Stuff is hilarious, bizarre and endearing all rolled into one absolute delight of a show. I laughed A LOT.

The characters Cheekykita presented to us – and the way they were presented – was a whole lot of fun; my favourites being the octopus and the shark. One of the biggest highlights for me was her use of an audio excerpt from Netflix‘s My Octopus Teacher but telling the octopus’s side of the story.

The other highlight was when the shark came out and was absolutely fabulous with just a hint of JAWS.

I say these were highlights, but Cheekykita’s humour and storytelling style meant I was laughing out loud throughout the show, with lots of unexpected moments that left me feeling somewhat like ‘I don’t know what she’s going to say next, but I 100% want to hear it‘.

There was an element of audience participation in the show, but only if you wanted it. And one man very much wanted it! He found himself not only swatting a bee, but also being the octopus documentary filmmaker.

Apparently there was a younger person in the audience, and perhaps a little bit of (debatable) age-inappropriate humour for that person – which was dealt with professionally and humorously, with some diplomatic explaining that yes, holes are for things to disappear into.

The show takes you from the sea, to Cheekykita’s front room, to SPACE!!! And back again. The whole thing was just a little bit mesmerising, and put me in a fantoosh mood for the rest of the evening.

What a whirlwind! I’d highly recommend this show to anyone who likes their comedy more on the bizarre side.