Temi Wilkey wants to talk about love. She is looking for the one true partner, and with any gender in her sights, she might find it tonight at Soho Upstairs.
Lover Girl is a quirky celebration of sexuality, status, and sensibility. Wilkey is a glamorous Black, bisexual woman – open, friendly, and romantic.
But she has a secret weapon, or nemesis, in the red-clad ‘infinity pussy’ within her, who threatens to hijack the show. It’s clear from the off this is no regular stand-up.
Oozing confidence and respect for the sound of rhythm and blues, Wilkey makes us laugh, wows us with her singing, and offers some potent and poignant observations from her life experience.
It’s a largely queer audience (signposted by just a few sparse cheers when straight women are invited to make themselves known). Lover Girl is extremely sex-positive and aware of how our bodies affect us post-puberty in our experimental stage.
Wilkey knows her body and knows her audience. She can tease as well as find an emotional core in her unrelenting search for affection. She tells us that women are harder to date. She dislikes the drama of polygamy. She shows us what ‘making do’ looks like.
Frank, fresh and funny, Lover Girl thrives on getting the audience involved. No one has to go up, but making a noise isn’t always optional, and you might be asked without warning to summarise the show so far.
Utilising a microphone, chaise longue, and a couple of costume changes, Lover Girl is more geared to the personal exploration of self and attraction than complex scene-setting.
Director Ragevan Vasan makes great use of the Upstairs space and allows the observations to come through thick and fast. If modern romance were a car, it would surely be wrecked on the first test drive.
But Temi Wilkey is not deterred. By the time her heart becomes involved – literally and figuratively – she is searching for the kind of validation and romance that can only come from one place. That’s probably not a dating app or a casual pleasure push.
Lover Girl is a riot of intimacy, of “pussies and bussies”, g-spots and orgasms, thrusts and busts, and that infinite language of fleshy fun.
It is fearless and very astute. Through comedy, style, a cheeky smile and a wink at physicality, Wilkey finds her match after all.
I’m giving this four stars.
Temi Wilkey: Lover Girl continues at Soho Theatre Upstairs until 21 Nov.
For more on Temi Wilkey, follow her Instagram.
Photo credit: Jonny Ruff (from the Edinburgh Fringe run)