post by @nataliagresty

Seen by Natalia at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 11th of August 2024

4 stars – Aussie silliness in a jam-packed experimental sketch show

The Melbourne duo Hot Department certainly deliver what they promise: heat from straight to finish. It doesn’t take them long to start undressing and by the end nothing is off the table and not much on their bodies either. Honor Wolff and Patrick Durnan Silva are hilariously funny, loud and ready to lose their morals on stage in the name of absurd comedy.

They start the show on a perfectly appropriate satirical high: first by saying it and then by singing, over and over, that they’re “not doing this for attention” whilst taking their clothes off. What follows is a high energy, slightly adhd-esque cocktail of sharp sketches, parodies, impressions, songs, improv and more. There’s the Brazilian father in Havaianas, walking around trying to fix every chair and to Facebook-friend us all whilst offering us churrasco, there’s the evil Barbie, there’s the Keira Knightley shopping for prosciutto, all flawlessly executed.

Hot Department are two original, buzzing open-minded freaks (their words and mine) who are somehow both sexual and mocking sexualization. They’re unafraid to take things the perfect half-step too far and serve as proof that great comedy can (and should!) be clever and hot. At long last!

31st July – 25th August; 9.25 pm

Running time: 60 minutes

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker Two

Tickets and Info: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/hot-department 

Group: Junkyard Artists

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotdepartment/