Kam ... In Your Face: A review

Kam is an intriguing performer. She is equally comfortable belting out '70s tunes, toying with the audience in her stand-up act or playing Ellen Aim, the distressed female in the closing skit “Streets of Fire”. Although she delivers all her performances with the same speech and tone, the similarity actually serves to hold the show together.

Her inimitable style is instantly recognizable when she appears on stage and the audience is drawn to her varying caricatures. Somehow she manages to pull of cute and scary at the same time. Add to that a healthy dash of flamboyance and more than a touch of wit and you have the recipe for a local legend.

A strong cast backs her up together with an eye-catching ensemble of dancers. Cabarets are as much about the shaking the tail feathers as the comedy or singing – and the showgirls certainly held their end up.

Amongst the actors, Douglas Lim deserves a mention. From the opening sequence with a rendition of Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good” to the maniacal but comical villain Raven Shaddock, Lim displays an enviable range and great sense of comic timing. For someone making his debut in the cabaret format, it is a commendable effort.

The choice of music, transition between scenes and choreography made the show flow fluently. There really wasn’t a dull moment. Perhaps the only blight the entire evening was Kam’s curious choice of using an often-heard (read) email joke to end her stand up routine in the first act.

Don’t ask me about the storylines in the theatre segments or even what the many songs were. I honestly cannot remember and I don’t think it is important to. What I do know is that it was a couple of hours of good, wholesome, burlesque fun.

Text Chan Wai Lee