Deranged New York comedy duo Kiki And Herb at last find themselves at a London venue conducive to their 'confrontational cabaret' origins - a 'showboat' on the Thames.
With the booze flowing freely, both on stage and off, and openended performance times, Kiki And Herb Mount The President showcases their free-form song'n'rant routine to great effect.
Kicking off with a raucous interpretation of Sex Bomb, sixtysomething dipsomaniacal diva Kiki treats the audience to a tale from her past ('it was the 1950s, I was a dancer at a Hoochie Koochie club in Baltimore...'), and the tone is set for the night.
Justin Bond has given his alter ego Kiki such a brilliantly detailed history that no two nights of this run are likely to be same, although tales about Princess Grace of Monaco ('she liked certain pills...and I knew where to get 'em') and first husband Rube ('He had enough of Kiki the woman. But they always come back for Kiki the showgirl!') bear frequent repetition.
The triumph, though, aside from Bond's brilliant, terrifying comic creation, is their encyclopaedic musical knowledge.
A Carmen Miranda'd-up take on Annie Lennox's Why? takes a while to recognise, while their inspired reworkings of Suicidal Tendencies's Institutionalised and Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised need to be seen to be believed.
While most comedy acts are at pains to appear 'edgy', Kiki And Herb never look more than two minutes away from a nervous breakdown. A must-see.
In rep until Apr 23 (next perf tonight), HMS President, Victoria Embankment WC2, 8pm, £15. Tel: 020 7478 0100. www.sohotheatre.com Tube: Temple/Blackfriars
Kiki And Herb Mount The President
