Reviewed from a version captured in Mar 2024, this stand-up show by Judie Boom (aka Rebecca Tully) digs deep into life hacks for the apocalypse.
Encompassing overthinking, the perimenopause, brash new upstarts in the ice cream flavour box, changing rooms, meditation, climate change, virtual meetings and the utter awfulness of politics, Apocalypse Kapow considers societal collapse from a wry angle.
In a quick-fire 44-minute show, not every joke lands, but like the proverbial bus, another one is not far behind (depending on your geographical location, of course).
Judie’s philosophy might be helpful-ish, but it will raise a smile or two in the grumpy viewer. Although she is sometimes delusional and often distracted, there are plenty of gems to pick out here.
You may not be ready for political point-scoring but you will have a definite opinion on the perils of pistacho. I enjoyed seeing this debut show from a woman of my generation fixating on things I recognise all too well.
The idea of life hacks being ticked off could have flowed more smoothly within the show, which lacks a definite structure in its current form.
Judie Boom has her finger on the pulse of power and the powerless, bringing a knowing glance to the minor irritations of life as well as the big topics that keep us up at night.
With good audience rapport and a pleasing personality, Boom/Tully is well on the way to crafting a persona folk will chat about on the way home. And of course, there’s an obligatory fart joke.
Apocalypse Kapow is part “grumpy old women” and part “earth goddess”, in which we are invited to face our fears and reflect on the bizarre nature of what it is to be human.
Apocalypse Kapow ran at Brighton Fringe in May 2024. For more on it and Judie, visit Rebecca Tully’s website.
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