Devizes; Full of Scummy Mummies!

Guys out on “the pull” on Thursday in Devizes were cut short. The Scummy Mummies were back in town, and you’ve never heard so many Prosecco corks popping from the Corn Exchange. It sounded like machine-gun fire in there, aimed directly at testosterone….

Chicks and honeys, as far as the eye could see, and the odd quivering fellow, likely dragged in by their wives; a Devizes Arts Festival sell-out. The Scummy Mummies made their debut here four years ago. Their outrageous family-related routine adapts to follow the personal timelines of their own marriage and motherhood, with teenage parenting and divorce added source material for their latest offering, Hot Mess. But they also reminisced on the thirteen years they’ve been together after meeting on the comedy circuits; it shows.

I meant in professionalism, not physically; I’ll leave the self-body-shaming gags to this dynamic comedy duo. They excel in it, but extrovert their comical bombardments too, onto their kids, partners and the audience, taking no prisoners as they fill the stage with madcap frenzy. At its baseline this show is 60% self-deprecating standup, 40% the ultimate hen party. There’s a complete comedy package, brazenly embellishing standup with sketches, Powerpoint presentations, parodied pop songs to suit the narrative, and more costume changes than Sabrina Carpenter gigging in Harvey Nichols.

I’m here breaking my Scummy Mummies cherry, by default attacking this from a male point of view, but….erm, (collective noun I believe is a gaggle) a gaggle of ladies knew what was coming, were prepped with tipples and charged funny bones. They were out for the funniest ladies’ night ever, for this is an Ab Fab afterparty, uncut French & Saunders but with a Jo Brand twist, a comedy duo who take Cyndi Lauper’s hit biblically.

From the contents of a laundry basket stratigraphically examined and retested for scale, to a particularly amusing mum’s Mastermind sketch, subjects ranged from “fingering” to the PTA Whatsapp group, but all done without taste; unless middle-aged women in catsuits simulating sexual positions with their husbands whilst admiring images on slippers is your definition of taste. But any more on that would be a spoiler, if it doesn’t spoil itself.  

As a geezer, you’d be forgiven for assuming this sounds excruciating, and this was certainly my pre-concern too. For if such a format was performed by anyone other than comedy geniuses, I’d still be of that opinion, but it wasn’t. This duo have the timing of The Greenwich Time Ball, are improv masters, and unless you were a subject on Louis Theroux’s Manosphere, wherever your testosterone balance lies, you cannot escape the simple fact that the Scummy Mummies are absolutely and undeniably hilarious.

They bounce off each other, literally, but also figuratively akin to Ronnies Barker and Corbett. To suggest they’re competency is on a similar pedestal would be exaggeration, but, dammit, they should be sitting above Michael McIntyre, and thoroughly deserve their own TV show. 

Men are going to be verbally assaulted here, you just know, but only with a feather duster rather than an all-out carpet bombing against patriarchy; in fact the word was only mentioned once. This is not a feminist march, and there is no political campaign with The Scummy Mummies, only astute social observational humour. And the bottom line is, with no bars held, they’ve perfected it. The menopause medley was sidesplitting, ‘Ann Scummers’ delighted, the audience participation was paramount throughout, but precedence held at the finale, the result of the ‘confessions,’ was a gem of comic sagacity.  

Their entire show didn’t come up for air, is written with comedy erudition, and the gag about men in grey boxers had me contemplating if the notion was understandable in their presence, given I nearly wet myself laughing at these two exceptionally funny women!

All hail The Devizes Arts Festival, it’s looking like another successful year. This was a hysterical button to press, seemingly loved by everyone in attendance. But there’s plenty more to come, all the way until, and including, Sunday 14th June. You’d be doing yourself a favour to find details HERE and pick up some tickets.

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