Demi Adejuyigbe ~ Adelaide Cabaret Festival ~ Review

[Cabaret; Comedy] Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip Space Theatre Thur 12 June, 2025 Demi Adejuyigbe has a problem: he gets very nervous when he’s in the company of someone he finds attractive.  His special someone was supposed to be joining us for this performance but they haven’t turned up. A little miffed, but also a little relieved, Adejuyigbe decides to share his homespun theories about how to “impress your crush”. He does this with a series of songs he has written or adapted and some friendly patter with the audience. His amusing lyrics are projected on screen with matching images to make sure everyone is keeping up. His rewriting of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire got lots of laughs. A couple of suicidal robots help the story along, and Adejuyigbe engages in regular banter with the show’s invisible stage director. He also fields weird on stage phone calls from annoying minor celebrities pretending to be his crush. But then there’s a phone call from someone much higher up the food chain that he can’t ignore …. It’s mostly pretty lightweight in content. There is some attempt toward the end to say something of substance about racism and stereotypes (which is also quite funny), and when it comes to the much vaunted backflip things do get strangely serious. Adejuyigbe comes across as a pretty happy-go-lucky type but if what he shares about his earlier life is true then the fact that he can still share some joy about life is quite an achievement. Lots of elements have been welded together to create this odd parody of modern life, but it's puzzling trying to work out if there’s a higher point other than random references to popular culture and IKEA monkeys. In any event, it’s an hour of harmless fun. 3.5 stars Michael Coghlan Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip concludes on Fri, June 13 at Space Theatre. Buy tickets HERE.