If the ghost of Catherine Tate’s interpreter (the one who thinks she can speak any language if she can hit the vowels with an accent ) was resurrected as a pop star to haunt those who voted for Brexit the result might be the international pop sensation Imogené, the narcissistic subpar supernova we deserve for our insular times. 

Helicoptered to the South Bank of the Thames for the Vaults festival, and then reverentially transported on a Shetland pony with her entourage of micro pigs, Imogené (performed by Imogen Palmer) is here to bless the audience with all the tres francaisey sophistication her Milton Keynes background allows. 

A sensitive artist like herself can easily be distracted by the ethereal muse of BBC costume drama and her WhatsApp bestie Beyoncé so unfortunately her latest album is not quite ready for prime time and she needs to enlist the audience to co-write, co-produce, and co-sing her new material. As long as they do not expect to share credit with her, bien sur. 

‘Imogené’is an improvised piece lubricated by the gushings of the character of the self-involved Imogené, audience inspired musical set pieces and some rather revealing costume changes that each reached new glittering pinnacles of skin tight intimacy. 

The performance bravely relies on audience suggestions to inspire the songs and it’s a testament to Palmer’s ability that she was able to incorporate the rather lame contributions of a mid-week, late night crowd that was roughly the same size as the imagined micro pig entourage. For this performance the sparse audience provided the moribund theme of Post It Notes for the album. Palmer’s improvised output was full bodied, deft, inventive and throaty. Romy & Michele would have been proud of the results.  

The pan sexual and poly amorous character Imogené is a star with a voracious and varied sexual appetite that she vocally shares. No need to snowflake though, her self-involvement saves the audience from any embarrassment as all the triggers are hilariously locked and loaded at herself. It’s all #JustMe not #MeToo.

For fans of improv ‘Imogené’ is a great anchor character for an entertaining hour of Palmer’s wit, commitment and dexterity. Ending on a rousing musical salute to Pride Palmer showed she was able to infuse a small audience with the energy of a larger one. Don’t miss out on it because you think you don’t have what it takes to inspire her muse, she can work with anything, even Post-Its.

Untl Feb 28th
VAULT FESTIVAL

Review by Andrew Hebden

Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.