Aidan Sadler: Tropicana, 3 Stars

Aidan Sadler: Tropicana
Assembly the Blue Room
15 – 28 Aug at 22:20

“Join queer cabaret icon Aidan Sadler as they take you on the award-winning journey to Tropicana! Nothing is safe from ridicule so be led on an exploration of body image, heteronormativity and sometimes wearing a dress round the house on a muggy day. Here, you’ll experience belting 80’s synth-pop nostalgia punctuated with world class stand-up comedy. Featuring electrifying 80’s hits from Spandau Ballet to ABC, Tropicana returns to Fringe from its sell-out, extended run in 2021 to explore, bend and abuse the gender binary.”

Review by Richard Lambert, 3 Stars

With 80’s pop music this show has amazing soundtracks! Gold, The Look of Love, Don’t you want me Baby?, Club Tropicana…….The 80s was the best period for pop music! And they’re here in this show.

Packaged and fronted by Aidan Sadler with huge powerful vocals this is a late night show that is a lot of fun. Straight couples and women of a certain age populate the audience and love it!

The show construct is straightforward enough – sing a song, tell a joke, repeat. Simples.

The set is simple – a high chair and a dress.

But there is a lack of theatricality here. Aidan leaves the stage in a blackout to change into the dress to come back on in the dress we’ve already seen. There is no “reveal” of the new look. Why not either change on stage, which could be done as part of the comedy, or not show the dress in the 1st place? The jokes are ok but don’t really match the audience genre. They’re followed with a reflection about how the actor feels the joke landed – either now, or with a Reviewer, or in some other city. The audience participation puts a straight man in a red tunic but he is not really presented fully to the audience to show the accomplishment, or to do anything in it – he’s just asked to sit down in it for the remainder of the show.

Aidan is really personable with amazing vocals. Danny La Rue by Asos. A full concert of 80’s songs would be incredible and a huge crowd pleaser!

The audience fell in love with this handsome cheeky chappy and it’s easy to see why.

Listings Info

  • Warnings and additional info: Audience participation, Contains distressing themes, Strong language/swearing
  • 18+

Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/aidan-sadler-tropicana