Spoiler alert: Shirley Gnome is not mature, and she likes it that way.
This feisty musical comedienne from Vancouver makes her second appearance at the Montreal Fringe with a whole new set of songs to make you blush. This show is most definitely not for the prude or faint of heart. Gnome makes that abundantly clear when within the first two minutes of her show she’s singing a song about glitter in her pussy. “I took a peek underneath, what did I find/mystery glitter where the sun don’t shine.”
But don’t let that scare you off from buying a ticket. First off, the lady can sing. Her impressive singing chops are easily worth the price of admission alone. Even if she puts those vocal talents to use singing about dicks and things falling out of her vagina.
As the show progresses you start to realize that in between the ridiculousness are serious issues like the pain of denial, a broken heart, and gender equality. “You don’t need to buy me a meal or a drink to fuck me/no you never need to spend a dime/ to get your sexy vagina time/Instead if you could insist in your daily life/in any way that you can/to work towards a world where a woman gets paid the same as a man.”
It’s then you realize realize writing Gnome off as a frivolous Fringe act would be a mistake. Instead this sexually adventurous lady forces the audience to think about all the raw, emotional pain that comes from sexual relationships and realizes it’s mostly bullshit. Life is so much more fun when we can laugh through it, take a swig from a sparkly flask and move on.
Shirley Gnome: Real Mature plays at Le petit campus until June 21st. Tickets and info available on the Montreal Fringe website
