The Darling and The Diva
Privee
21st October 2018
2 Stars
There are plenty of comedy acts out there on the circuit and it is always fun to discover something new, especially if it hits a certain contemporary point. Kiki Mellek, on first at this pricey Knightsbridge basement bar, as a kind of straight woman dressed up as a drag queen, made a pleasant impact with her ghastly, vaguely Levantine, media ogress, in an act that was all about shallowness, narcissism, vanity and other staples of what the neighbourhood is all about. She took her kit off, too, revealing a lot of very fake flesh, much in the manner of Eurotrash in the bygone days when this sort of thing could get a laugh. Now, it does look rather sad and pathetic. But is that me just showing my age? You will have to experience it for yourself – should you wish – to find out.
The second half turned out to be an act I had already seen, some years ago, at a much cheaper venue in Stokey, where she was only one quarter, or even one fifth, of a much fuller, and better value-for-money programme. She also, as far as I can recall, executed her stock in trade multi-lingual singing routine with greater imagination and panache than we saw this time around. That was a pity: usually acts get better with practice, especially with several years under their belt to hone, as they say, their craft. Not so here. The second half was, therefore, a bit of a disappointment in an evening that as a whole failed to live up to the ego-maniacal hype put out by the performers themselves. Verdict? The Darling has potential, but the Diva needs to get back on track.
