Lou Fox
Gloriously unhinged, and does what is says on the tin: this was one of the most unpredictable hours of comedy ever concieved. Playing with elements of clowning, stand-up and absurd characters, Cheekykita – Batshit makes for a heavenly comedy medley.
We are, Cheekykita tells us, in a back garden in Manchester, just across the way from Oasis’ performance. We are also, as we move through the hour, meandering around different parts of the brain – her brain – her bat cave. It doesn’t need to make sense, and the audience is far from questioning logic. No, we are consumed by the baffling clutch of characters we meet, their impressive and disparate personalities, and some deliciously offbeat audience interaction.
Although some bat-related one-liners kick us off (think: “winging it”), they are a meagre warm up to the imaginative offerings that follow. Audience members are invited to enter her ‘cave’ (not a euphemism) – which, if accepting, entails them being briefly engulfed in her enormous satin-y wings in order to introduce themselves. After introductions are made – this is a small enough space to embrace the intimacy of subterranean Fringe venues – we meet a host of Cheekykita’s ‘friends’. These include a trainee hairdresser dressed quite like Ginger Spice, who then is a cat, followed in quick pursuit by the enigmatic, head-banging Wild One who proposes to an audience member and invites us to a pyjama party. Whipped cream gets involved, and somewhere along the way a golden pigeon is mentioned (but doesn’t really exist). None of this is sleazy, nor needlessly raunchy, and there is a stalwart simplicity and pace that keeps every bit moving seamlessly to the next.
The brilliance of the performance lies in the deft handling of scripted and unscripted – frequently, her assistant must remind Cheekykita of what’s next, or of a specific segway she’s accidentally hurtled over. Somehow, this lands as neither unprepared, nor as exaggeratedly false – it is a friendly, chaotic amble through a labrynthine mind and it feels perfectly natural for us to follow her wherever she goes.
The show ends in raucous joy with a rousing rendition of Live Forever, with Oasis lyrics needing no tweaking (other Manchester bands’ songs are less lucky) to provide a hysterically fitting end. Cheekykita, with frenzied urgency, asks us, “What’s your garden like? WHAT’S YOUR GARDEN LIKE?” and is answered something like “um, it’s nice-” just in time for the chorus to hit. “Maybe I don’t really wanna know / How your garden grows / ‘Cause I just wanna fly…” Cue intense flapping of batwings.
Cheekykita is a talented, tirelessly inventive performer with a defiant sense of self. This makes for the very best of comedy ingenuity – even the most ridiculous needs no questioning, so safe are we in the hands of a brilliant mind.
Recommended Drink: A pint on an empty stomach worked fantastically well for the gent in front of me, who got involved with aplomb within seconds.
Performances of Cheekykita – Batshit have now concluded at EdFringe 2025.
Jasmine Silk
Phoebe Bakker
