5 stars
In a devastatingly effective takedown of the rampant sexualisation of young girls, Jamie Mykaela delivers a long overdue throat punch to the music industry with Daddy.
Throughout the show, Mykaela calls out many of the biggest names amongst recording artists, performing ukulele renditions of some of their hits. It doesn’t take much emphasis to expose the disgusting themes that connect these songs.
Image courtesy of Jamie Mykaela
Mykaela’s voice and stage presence are, as anyone who’s been lucky enough to see her perform previously will undoubtedly already know, phenomenal. Crowned with a dazzling home-made headpiece crafted from hot glue and hope—and a lot of bamboo skewers—Mykaela forms an intimidating sight on the stage.
It’s a feat unto itself to be able to deliver a show almost entirely driven by ukulele without a shred of twee about it, and that’s exactly what Mykaela does. Hers is a voice that defies belief, rich and throaty and powerful.
Bantering well with the audience, Mykaela's genuine charisma and personality are readily apparent both during and between wonderfully performed songs. It’s a strange sort of appreciative dissonance that results, with an audience simultaneously wanting to applaud the exceptional performance and retch at the themes espoused therein.
Mykaela keeps up a constant barrage of righteous mocking and derision, dismantling the sorts of excuses that are trotted out to defend or justify the figures in question. There are no holds barred, and no musical heroes too mighty to be burnt to a crisp by the magnifying glass of her scrutiny.
There are personal anecdotes that serve to drive home the dismaying relatability of the subject matter. While the songs she performs come from the golden age of popular music, Mykaela makes clear the disturbing prevalence of the problematic attitudes that drove this content, so too the predatory behaviour that they espouse.
You may come out of this show questioning your appreciation of some of your old favourites, but unquestionable is Mykaela’s amazing performance.
Tickets available from the FRINGE WORLD website.
GLEN SEABROOK-BENSON