If you should find yourself at a carol concert this festive period after seeing Sex Shells’ XXXmas, good luck expelling from your head their filthy rewrites. “Your cum tastes disgraceful,” indeed! This musical cabaret (advertised as sketch comedy, but it isn’t) combines a sordid spin on wassailing with songs – original compositions and repurposed pop classics – celebrating queerness and satirising the state of the world.
If its brand of queer is more cosy than unconventional, the show is great fun, with big-hitting performances from hirsute Dr Adam Perchard, Calum from Hull and That Woman Rosie on keyboard and occasional mordant vocal. Gloria Gaynor is given a conditional-tense makeover in We Might Survive, and the trio’s yummy-mummy take on The Lion King’s Circle of Life opens strong. Harry Nilsson rephrased to propose that God is Gay might feel bolder were Zoe Lyons not making the same case a mile down the road in the show Act of God. But the lyrics, here as elsewhere, are adroit, and Perchard makes song and sentiment throb with life.
There’s no stagecraft on display, or anything interesting in the relationships between the performers. It’s just the songs, wrapped (or unwrapped) in hot pants and animated with much enthusiastic taking up of space and simulated whipping of backsides. One or two numbers feel generic. Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area tortures a metaphor to fairly modest comic effect.
But there is no resisting the trio’s spirit, festive or otherwise. Pink-haired Calum’s gay-pride solo could give This Is Me a run for its self-assertive money, while we’re given no option but to get onboard with a valedictory 12 Gays of Christmas, hymning (what else?) “five cock rings”. Christmas parties are unlikely to leave disappointed.
• At Soho theatre, London, until 28 December.
