Drink Pepsi, Bitch! by Eddie Perfect, Sept 22, 2005

Drink Pepsi, Bitch!  by Eddie Perfect

Malthouse Theatre

Beckett Theatre, Malthouse, Sept 22 to Oct 2, 2005

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on Sept 22, 2005

Cabaret performer, Eddie Perfect, is a glorious ranter.  He rants about Pepsi advertising and its vacuous spokesmodel. Paris Hilton. He rants about Oprah, IKEA, Cirque du Soleil, Ray Martin and call centres.

He rants through his original song lyrics and stand-up material. He is vitriolic about corporations, rampant consumerism, cynical marketing campaigns, advertising and our own apathy.

His targets are nto only high profile companies. H slams the hippy fascists, those scruffy ferals who come from middle-class families and demand we all ride bicycles, grown deadlocks and eat tofu.

Perfect is the perfect voice for all of this. He has a wicked humour, a cunning way with language and rhyme and an intelligent, backhanded political sensibility.

He also has a sparkling smile, oodles of charm and a cockatoo hairdo that defies gravity.

He has a gung-ho manner and no fear of reprisal. Even using the name of the cola giant in his title got him into legal strife. Big companies can use us but we can't take their names in vain it seems.

An accomplished trio of musicians backs Perfect's act. (Ben Hendry, Dustin McLean, Vincenzo Ruberto) His songs are jazz influenced with a few ballads and a latin number tossed in.

The titles give away his targets. Drink Pepsi, Bitch! Is his version of the new, in-your face marketing ploy for the cola company.

Where There's Will and Wave There's Ray is a scathing tune attacking Ray Martin's sugary coverage of the Tsunami.

I'm In Too Deep peeks into internet pron which brings new meaning to the term, Internet Service Provider.

Those poor sods who work in call Centres are not free of criticism in Thank The Lord for cal Centres.

And for those of us who have been lost or lost love in that endless furniture showroom that is IKEA, Perfect lets fly lament entitled, I Want To Go Home.

Oprah gets a serve in Where's My Flat Screen TV, a cry from the US suburbs desperate to fulfil the American Dream.

It is his finale that really hits home his message. Stop Being so Damned September 10 is an indictment of our cynicism and inertia in the face of 21^st century horrors.

Perfect is shrewd, irreverent and a consummate performer. This show is delectable.

By Kate Herbert