Rebecca Humphries – Dizney Rascal review

Right from the first beat of the ‘Under the Sea’ opening sing-a-long everyone packed into this small cabaret bar was captured and enraptured. Rebecca Humphries’s joyous, silly and perfectly pitched ode to all things Disney could well be the feel-good show of this year’s Fringe. Faced with writing a solo show, she considered the big issues of the day; feminism, capitalism and various other -isms before settling for the one thing she knows and loves more than anything else, namely the works of Walt.

As she belts into the show-stopping ‘Walt Disney Touched Me’ you quickly realise that this is going to be an innuendo-laden, filth fest from a true diva of dirt. However, what’s most clever about the show is the fact that, whilst it’s aimed squarely at the ‘Girls’ generation – reimagining the Little Mermaid as a young woman with body dysmorphia and ‘Aladdin’s Jasmine as a fast-talking Jewish princess – it somehow never loses that essential Disney innocence.

Humphries is a real star in the making. She’s ballsy, effortlessly funny, intelligent and creates an instant connection with her audience that transports them on this delightful cabaret journey with true joy and heart. But don’t think that it’s all fluff and nonsense and that she doesn’t tackle some of the big burning questions of our time – as we all sang along to ‘If Fancying Animals is Wrong, Why Do Disney Make Them So Fit?’ I, for one, felt enlightened and challenged. A wonderful hour of unadulterated fun.

‘Dizney Rascal’ is at Fingers Piano Bar, 2.45pm until Aug 17, then 1.30pm from Aug 18