Stooshe turn real-life headlines into a new “Black Heart”
The last day of the Fun and Filth Cabaret coincided with A-level results, and show introducer Connie reported receiving an A and two Bs before confirming that Birmingham had still accepted her. Listeners sent in their own university news while Scott and Beccy repeatedly supplied Radio 1’s advice number for anybody whose results had not gone as expected. The programme then returned to Edinburgh, where Chris was taking unusually long to come back from his latest free Fringe show.
Scott replayed highlights from Paloma Faith’s rain-soaked night as guest host. An emergency changing area had been built behind the stage so Paloma could manage her numerous costumes without crossing the downpour, while her cabaret set had included a reworked “Picking Up the Pieces”. Nick Grimshaw’s closing performance with drag artist Scottee had involved cream, blue food colouring and “Milkshake”, leaving him and his clothes in a state that the team thought needed to be seen rather than explained.
Before Innuendo Bingo Gold, Beccy revealed that Chris had twice described her as his ideal woman, first because she wanted a giraffe’s head and then because she had brought him pizza. Chris tried to reduce both comments to momentary observations, but the conversation followed the previous year’s awkward declaration that he loved her. Wearing BBC rain ponchos, they then tackled clips about rubbing a chicken, a fast balloon modeller, a cannon salute and a boy with his finger in a dyke.
Joe Lycett discussed his first full solo Fringe run, Some Lycett Hot, and the hundreds of possible puns attached to his surname. He recalled taking his parents for drinks with Roy Walker, collecting deliberately miserable photographs with other comedians and trying not to go out every night. Joe stayed to hear Chris award two stocks to Failure and How to Achieve It, a baffling free show involving performers in boxes, cakes, cereal, book-eating, an invisible supermodel and an audience-climbing finale. Joe thought Chris’s description made it sound far better than the score suggested.
Stooshe performed “Black Heart” in the pink tent and previewed the version they would sing that night using genuine headlines from real-life magazines. The final cabaret paired them with the Posh Radio 4 Lady, The Boy with Tape on His Face, Barry Morgan’s World of Organs, Russell Kane, Pappy’s and an elaborate act from Greg James. Fazer arrived to guest-host his first cabaret, promising to embrace whatever appeared on stage despite having no idea what most of the line-up would involve.
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