Ready to fly? Pam Ann is soaring in her latest show. I think this must constitute the eight thousandth time we’ve seen the first lady of the airlines, and we’ve never seen her so sharp.
By Cliff Joannou
It must have helped somewhat when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8th March, just twenty days before this run took-off. And, extending the theme of travel-related disasters to the recent South Korean ferry tragedy courtesy of a completely coincidental rework of the 1997 film Titanic, there’s enough material to fill a Noah’s Ark of comedy. Too soon? Not for Pam Ann. If biting remarks and close-to-the-bone commentary about such things are your idea of bad taste, you’re better off watching Newsnight.
(Given such prophetic powers, it’s a miracle Pam Ann – aka Caroline Reid – isn’t on some CIA terrorist watch-list. Or maybe she is. That would be an easy thing to believe…)
Rightly, she doesn’t dwell on these tragic events too long as the joke would wear thin. Yes, of course, there are references. How could she possibly deliver a performance without raising either? But when she does, the comments are hilariously crude: “My Black Box doesn’t run out in 30 days.”
She just sticks another cock in it. Pam isn’t the shy type.
And after years of being the subject of crass stereotypes, her popular character ‘Lily’ finally has the perfect ‘featured’ role during the show as the bonkers Chinese air stewardess whose nation has fallen victim to the MH370 disaster.
It’s actually to Pam’s credit as a comedian that she shines when she interacts with the audience. She banters with posh French girl Tiffaney, who was formerly cabin crew (of course).
“Do we have Virgin Cabin Crew here?” she asks. Of course there is. “I thought I could smell cum,” she nods.
When she talks to a random guy from the audience who works in a client relations call centre, her response to his job role is simple: “Customer satisfaction? Never heard of it.”
I shouldn’t tell you much about the new video footage she’s re-edited. It would spoil the laughs. Needless to say, the Sound of Music will never be the same again. Once more, Pam Ann proves that when it comes to bitches we love to love, she’s amongst the best of the best.
• Leicester Square Theatre. Runs to 26th April.
• www.leicestersquaretheatre.com
