Review – Advertising Death
Brothers and funeral-home owners Edward and Henry are in a bit of a tight spot. Their business is failing and they have approximately two weeks to swindle themselves a solution. Shockingly, their cavalier approach to death isn’t as popular as you’d think. Despite their best efforts to make funerals fun, guilt-trip their customers, and the graceful way in which they money-grab, the happily heartless sales pitch just isn’t producing results. But saviour arrives in the form of a wispy and brainless blonde whose husband is about to croak. Loving as she is, she wants to give her soon-to-be-departed the best damned funeral you’ve ever seen. To quote the brothers themselves, “It’s the funeral so nice that you’ll want to die twice!” The only slight hiccup is that the funeral’s guest of honour isn’t actually dead yet. Luckily the boys of are a glass-half-full sort of operation and quickly agree that murder is the most logical solution.
The cast is almost entirely male which demands a healthy amount of cross-dressing. The female portrayals are not sexist or offensive though, so the ladies of the audience will not be shaking their heads in disapproval. They might at some of the more un-PC jokes, but even then it’s pushing the envelope in a delightfully risqué way. The chemistry between the two brothers is completely engaging and you really believe they’re related. The doctor is hilariously and casually ignorant to the torment of his patient’s loved one. The musical numbers are incredible and reminiscent of a mix between Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Flight of the Conchords with a sprinkling of Pixies. Unfortunately the vocals are sometimes overpowered by the instruments, which is a shame as the lyrics are inventive and riotously entertaining.
Making light of death and depravation is a tough gig; but writers and performers Nicholas Conway, Braden Hamilton, Daniel Murnane, Alister McMichael and Henry Koehne (of the George Glass gang) manage to pull it off marvellously. You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, you’ll bop your head along to the music, and you might even question your sexuality after the priest performs a hauntingly erotic strip tease. But for dead sure, you’ll have a great time with the gang of Advertising Death.
