Clara Cupcakes: The Worst (MICF)

There are few performers who can put on a burlesque show and make it utterly hilarious, fewer still who can make it heart-warmingly nostalgic, and fewer again that can do it all in an outlandish and cumbersome costume. And then there's Clara Cupcakes.

The banished Octoqueen of Seaburbia, Cupcakes (Elly Squire) presents The Worst: an eight-limbed, eight-bit extravaganza about a sea creature just looking for love and acceptance. Hell hath no fury like a Cephalopod scorned, and ex-Queen Cupcakes is about to get her own back.

The most undoubtedly satisfying aspect of The Worst is Squire's attention to detail and nuance. There are so many brilliant gags (and some brilliantly bad ones too) on the video game genre that, in the heat of the neon cabaret moment, they almost go totally unnoticed. All the little details that come standard with a Clara Cupcakes show are what make it so excellent: the tech crew member blowing on the video game cartridge to start the show is a notable example, and it only gets better from there.

The Cupcakes character, as the name suggests, is one of the sweetest to grace a MICF stage in recent years. If Lucille Ball got sucked through a rip in the space-time continuum, she'd come out the other side as the saccharine sweetheart in the latex tentacles. In your face and all over the place, this is a show that hits every mark like there's no tomorrow. Marine striptease, multiplayer mode, and some very disturbing octopus facts, The Worst goes to infinite comedic places without ever losing itself. And still, even through the bombardment of references and potential in-jokes, Squire has made a totally endearing performance about finding yourself and accepting fate.

Get that second, crappy controller out, collect enough coins and go see this show. Clara Cupcakes is a Level Up! above the rest.

Clara Cupcakes presents The Worst till 23 Apr at The Butterfly Club, part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.