Review of Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe ‘n’ Stuff – Fringe 2024

Birdy had such a whale of a time (despite there being no whales in this show) at last year’s Fringe, she decided to come back for a second helping of Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe ‘n’ Stuff.

Surreal comedy has always been a soft spot of mine, and I was so absolutely enchanted by last year’s Cheekykita performance (which you can read about here) that I decided to come back for a second helping when I saw it was on at this year’s Fringe.

I was glad I did, because it’s she’s still a delight to watch.

The vibe

The vibe of this show is bizarre, funny and just a little bit off the chain. Cheekykita has brought friends with her, including a malfunctioning battery powered dancing cat (pssst! Try replacing the batteries), a stuffed badger, and a little mermaid with a blowhole you can finger if you want to (nobody did).

Cheekykita’s vibe of ‘this is happening, just roll with it’ is both charming and just really funny, and she gets a very willing audience to play along through some of the silliest moments.

The show itself

We get introduced to several characters from Cheekykita, including her being “in bread”, an octopus, a shark, a fly (which an audience member is encouraged to swat – just not on the head, face or back!) and an anus.

I’ve got to say, the octopus is still my favourite, but the shark comes in a close second; especially when the JAWS-esque music starts to play.

There’s a good amount of audience participation, with not only fly swatting, but a live interpretation of the Netflix show My Octopus Teacher, with the actual audio cut and edited whilst Cheekykita acts out the octopus role, and a member of the audience plays the videographer.

It will help you watch the documentary in a new light, as we get to hear it from the octopus’s perspective.

Cheekykita’s comfortable brand of nonsense will have you laughing out loud throughout this show, and the audience were singing along – sometimes with chants of ‘shrimp’ thrown into the mix (you had to be there).

At one point, I was given the character name of ‘mackerelle’, which I was happy to take.

There is a little bit of a plot, and we go from Cheekykita’s ‘front room’, to deep under the sea, before heading into space! And eventually we do get back safe again, in time to have a singalong and punch around a blow-up globe of the Earth. Perfect.

Overall

I had a great time at Cheekykita: An Octopus, The Universe ‘n’ Stuff, and I hadn’t actually realised that tomorrow is the last day! So, if you want to see this show, get your tixsies now (or just turn up tomorrow) and get ready for a surreal and memorable comedy journey.

One of the Fringiest things you’ll see this year, if you’re lucky enough to make it down to Bar 50 tomorrow.