By Ron Bingham
Lolly is Lolly Adefope’s impressive dĂ©but solo festival show.  It is a tour de force sketch show themed around a talent competition at a local club, hosted by the apparently well known local Wendy (who works in films). Wendy is the sort of person who loves to be the centre of attention while seeming to have no discernable skills or personality. She introduces the acts for the evening who are vying for the big prize (ÂŁ1,000 in vouchers for vodka, lime and sodas from the club’s bar). The Audience gets to choose the winner so pay attention!
The first contestant is Gemma, a local comedian who spends her entire routine dishing the dirt on her best friend, then Lolly gives us a male contestant – Horald (not Harold) who claims he is the father of John Legend and is just looking for recognition (ie cash). Wendy’s daughter is forced to go on during the break (with her mum’s criticism of all the acts coming over the PA while she is trying to sing), and then Lolly as another stand-up with stage fright who manages to win the audience over with a tiny piece of physical theatre that had the audience in stitches. In the end the Big Winner is announced by the Mayor (who just happens to be in the audience) and then suddenly, the party is over.
This show has been finely crafted, with the combination of one person using a number of costumes to portray a variety of characters, with well thought out announcements during the costume changes either commenting on the acts, setting the scene for the next character or building up for a later joke. The fifty minutes just whizzes by and the audience which was a full house on lovely padded bench seats in a space not unlike a shipping container, were happy to come along on the journey. Not sure what would happen if we chose a different winner, though Lolly probably has alternate endings for each contingency. This is definitely worth adding to the list of shows to see at the festival.