Review of Wobbie Wobbit at Kings, Queens and Rascals.
9th March 2019 – The King and Queen, Foley Street, London.
by Tony Allen
Wobbie Wobbit: An indisputable one-off – unlikely and wholly unique.
Upstairs at the King and Queen Foley Street the regular monthly gig of the singer-songwriter music night has been double-booked with a Film club, and, as an inevitable consequence, MC Steve M heading his bijou 4 piece has a dozen or so cine buffs chattering through his opening set. Not a perfect start to the show. A little later as the musos unplug, Steve introduces the evening’s first guest, Wobbie Wobbit. “Hello”, she says perkily. “…And hello film club. I do singalong comedy songs and you’re welcome to join in.” And they do, tentatively at first, but soon, once the playful participation of the opening number is established, they are singing and shouting heartily, along with the rest of the room – two dozen or so presumably singer songwriters, regulars and fans.
There is a deceptive depth and variety in Wobbie Wobbit’s stage set which includes gentle ditties of self-deprecation – “Scruffy”; witty social comment – “Backspace”; and the sheer delight of a narrative nonsense epic like “Womble” (The Magnificent Imaginary Dog) – which involves her performing sequences of clowning and uninhibited pissing about which many a contemporary stand-up would envy.
Over a post-gig drink in the bar, myself and two fellow Wobbit fans discuss what was the highlight of her set. One is adamant that her recently penned “Bra Off Time”, a playful feminist anthem, surpasses all her previous oeuvre and will be the making of her. Another favoured her daft but pithy celebrity impersonations but expressed disappointment that she’d dropped Oasis’ Liam Gallagher. For me however, what makes this unlikely and wholly unique performer so very special, is the immediacy of her disarming on-stage presence, it is far more than a simple “breaking of the 4th wall” – Wobbit, for all her quirky asides to the room and larky rabble rousing to take more risks, has a knowing sophistication about her – when it was clear that the film club were in her enthral she replied to one of their choral responses with an infectious chuckle shared seemingly just with them – “welcome to my world” it said.
– Tony Allen, March 2019