Ironing Board Man

Review by David Cox

We may have thoroughly enjoyed our first two Edinburgh festival shows "Plenty of Fish In the Sea" and "Reves" but they were rather intense, and in the last case extremely emotional.

When completing our Edinburgh itinerary I try and pick a contrast of styles so it was time to choose some comedy. To be honest Ironing Board Man had initially passed me by but thanks to a recommendation from an old school friend who loved it from the 2022 Brighton Fringe I added it to our spreadsheet and what a great decision that proved to be.

The title gives you some idea of what to expect, although I thought it would be a collection of film parodies rather than a new specific narrative. Obviously there are clear references to famous films but the story stands up on its own merits. It is one thing coming up with the idea that an ironing board could be made to look like a woman but it is something else to create an hour's entertainment without any flagging or padding.

The key to the show is Jody Kamali who produces an astonishing tour de force in a really slick show. I dread to think how many sound and lighting queues there are as well as the number of props, some of which are only used for a few seconds. And then we have the ironing boards. Anyone who has ever used one knows how unwieldy they are so how Mr K managed to manoeuvre them so smoothly and quickly is a masterclass in itself.

The joy of this show is the characterisation that Jody manages to bring to the boards. I was in the perfect position to watch a group of American students in the front row react. They laughed, they looked stunned and at one point I thought one of them was going to cry. All of this is due to Kamali's imagination and creativity.

If you want to see something different and highly entertaining this is the show for you.