At the moment, in my hometown of Melbourne it is Comedy Festival season. It makes the city a fun place to be, with the Melbourne Town Hall lit up and with a festival vibe existing in the city. One of the best things about the Comedy Festival is that it takes over the whole city  – there are so many venues hosting Comedy shows, so that Comedy can be found around many corners and in laneways too. In fact Clara Cupcakes’ show “Hot Patootie” can be be found at The Butterfly Club (which is down a lane in the city).

This show is billed as a ‘choose your own adventure story’ and the show lives up to that statement. In fact, the audience members are given many choices throughout the show which adds to the hilarity and excitement of the show. I have not been to a live show quite like this one before so I was excited to be a part of it! Upon entering the theatre (after being sweetly greeted by Clara herself), I noticed the stage littered with an assortment of props. Clara welcomed us with song – accompanied by a whirl of colour and dance- and the audience was given the task of choosing the theme for the evening. I was delighted that theme for the evening was to be Circus!

 You’ll have to come along to the show to see exactly what the circus adventure entails but some traditional circus characters / animal references feature in the show. After the introduction (and quite regularly throughout the show), Clara moved into the audience choosing unsuspecting audience members to interact with / assist her on stage with a variety of tasks. Indeed, there were plenty of random and unexpected adventures for audience members and I found that to be quite thrilling at times. The audience was lapping up the attention and the chances to participate, and I found Clara’s enthusiasm to be infectious. It is hard not to have fun at Clara’s show! Clever Clara knows how to keep the audience in the palm of her hand, all the while the chiming sound dictated when the audience had to make their next choice (and thus kept the show rolling along). “Hot Patootie” is an exuberant and playful show, and towards the end of the evening my voice was getting hoarse from all the cheering and whooping. It is clear that Clara is a crowd favourite.

 My Verdict: Clara Cupcakes entertains with a chaotic, colourful and charming show. Highly recommended!

BONUS TIP: Try and spot Clara in her ‘flyering outfit’ outside the Melbourne Town Hall before her show. Even her flyers are fantastic, so be sure to find and keep one.

Ticketing link:
https://thebutterflyclub.com/show/hot-patootie