REVIEW: Noodle Girls are the Biggest Shmood of the Sydney Comedy Festival

By Madeline Ward

The latest offering from Noodle Girls, Shmood: Full Throttle was an hour long, loving piss take of some of the kitschiest elements of the modern Australian identity. Perfect for lovers of Australian comedy served à la Kath and Kim or Muriel’s Wedding, Shmood: Full Throttle perfectly parodied everyone from Mosman Mums to Queensland Cops with an unmatched chemistry and energy. By tapping into the most banal of our shared experiences, like buying hemorrhoid cream from Priceline on ANZAC day, Noodle Girls enabled us to laugh at ourselves as much as we laughed at those being so ruthlessly parodied on stage. Never have I experienced a show so deeply relatable as Shmood.

Noodle Girls are Rachael Colquhoun-Fairweather and Lauren McNaught, with Sophie Strykowski (DJ Sauce) operating the AV and providing the occasional (hilarious) commentary. Colquhoun-Fairweather and McNaught use every inch of the stage, as well as every moment of the show, to perfection: transitions between sketches spent brushing each other’s bangs being particularly funny. The limited space of the theatre could have easily failed a lesser performance, but Noodle Girls used the small space to their advantage, maintaining the energy of their funniest sketches even through changing into more difficult costumes. These moments were soundtracked to perfection by DJ Sauce ( think: Freestyler by Bomfunk MC’s amongst other classics) as well as a pre-recorded moment of “audience engagement” parodying the comedians themselves. Audience engagement really was used to its fullest potential in this show (a game of pass the parcel was involved) which I suspect was aided through the strategic selection of a few crowd members. However it was achieved, it paid off: Noodle Girls played the audience as well as they did the stage.

There wasn’t a single sketch or joke or moment that fell flat during the show. Particularly enjoyable bits included a sketch about two members of the Queensland Police with staffies named Bella and a rousing rendition of Take Me Home (To Country Road) sung by two Mosman Mums bonding over their shared love of Chatswood Chase. By far my favourite moment of the show was a scene involving two british backpackers, a Wicked Campervan and shots of Sambuca, set to the song from the final scene of Thelma and Louise. Noodle Girls’ ability to skewer such intensely familiar elements of Australian culture is what made the show so deeply enjoyable. Ultimately, I struggled to find a single fault with this show, aside from the fact that it only ran for 3 nights. More, please.

Shmood: Full Throttle has finished its run of shows at the Sydney Comedy Festival, but Noodle Girls can be found on Instagram and Facebook for future dates.