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Writer's pictureOviya Thirumalai (she/her)

Jazz Emu: Knight Fever | Soho Theatre

Jazz Emu: Knight Fever is a hilarious stand up comedy and musical performance by the highly acclaimed Jazz Emu, accompanied by his band. Emu commands the audience with confidence and the air of a beloved performer. From the moment he is first introduced to the audience, in a knight's armour and helmet, to the moment he takes his final bow, Emu is dazzling - charming, confident, playfully narcissistic and sensational in his rockstar persona. As a stand up comedian, Emu quickly builds up a good rapport with the audience, and even has a few fun moments of audience interaction. 


The show is tied together by a particularly amusing narrative; Emu trying to decide which of his songs to perform at the Royal Variety. Recounting the experiences that led to each of the songs, along with his frustrations with singer Kelly Clarkson, who has been his rival for a number of years. In a bizarre twist, a chance to achieve knighthood is introduced and his entertaining and desperation bids to win this help further the plot. Another subplot of the growing use of Artificial Intelligence, human connection and trust bubbles beneath, and leads to a surprisingly inspiring finale. 


The live band is made up of Joel Phillips on the drums, Angie Prasanti on the bass, Nicky Green on the synths and Sofia Grant on keys and additional vocals. Emu introduces each member, providing them space to showcase with their own talents whilst also making them the subject of his jokes.



The show is hilarious, incorporating video in the form of his music videos, use of satirical documentary and pre-recorded video calls. The lyrics to his original songs are included in the music videos which is rather helpful. The video calls with his attorney Kelly Klarpson are brilliantly done, with the simple use of a evil smile filter (a recent trend on TikTok) and witty comparisons to his rival. The constant mockery of recent slang and over the top Generation Z as a whole is funny, especially when implementing this into AI. 


His songs cover a variety of mismatched subjects and will leave the audience in splits of laughter. Invoking the nostalgia of hoping the paused DVD player logo will reach the corner, to the bemused awful spellings in scam emails, or wishing for England to return to the mediaeval ways, Emu manages to turn any subject into a head bobbing tune. The show is witty and subtly intelligent in its reflection of smaller moments that are of second nature now. Whether it's mocking the pilot of trust pilot, dissing Sir Ian McKellen for eating Hot Wings on YouTube, the insanity of dance trends, and much much more, Emu has a unique take, which will delight audiences. 


Emu is a chaotic force that has decided to use his talents to entertain (to the relief of the British government) and astound audiences with music and stand up comedy. Jazz Emu: Knight Fever is playing at the Soho Theatre until 22nd June, and will embark on a UK tour. For more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)


Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by David Monteith-Hodge

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