Frisky & Mannish are on the brink of stardom. They are two glittering personalities from London whose love of pop has seen them appear at nearly every Fringe Festival across the globe. They’re such a success that ITV in the UK is all set to air their very own TV show.
But such is the big heart of these duo, known for belting big tunes loudly, that they have taken time out from their busy schedule to help Australia with a very serious problem we are currently experiencing: we need more pop stars!
‘We’re just helping Australia sort out its pop scene,’ Frisky said of their upcoming Perth Fringe World show, Frisky & Mannish’s Pop Centrelink.
‘We go into the heritage of the Australian pop scene quite a bit in the show, and without giving too much away shall we just say that there have been some highs and lows in the world of Australian pop.’
It’s the first international leg of their third show, and the troublesome twosome are incredibly excited.
‘Everyone is eligible for a job in pop,’ Mannish told OUTinPerth.
‘Our show essentially helps you find that job in pop. It’s not just very entertaining, you see, but also really quite useful and informative. You won’t be able to predict where your future lies… but we can tell you what you are and what you should aim for.’
‘You can expect to be rigourously analysed. Everybody is in it, so expect to give it your all. Of course we’ll be warming up and such because we don’t expect to throw you into the deep end. Then we’ll find out where everybody’s strengths and weaknesses are and then we’ll be putting you into one of five categories, or five careers in pop.’
Frisky and Mannish explain that there are five quintessential categories in the world of pop. If you can dance but can’t sing, you’re a Britney. Those fabulous hair with make up another category. And then those who do actually have big talent – and a doctor with really good prescriptions – might fall into the Elvis category.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg… and you better hope you ain’t a Titanic heading straight for it.
‘I think the secret to our shows is a pure, unadulterated love of pop,’ explained Frisky, playing with her hot pink hair. ‘We can only ever poke fun at the things that we love deep down in our souls.
‘We have a real soft spot for Katy Perry and Madonna. Who doesn’t right!? And even though we laugh at these things, and we might point out some of the more ridiculous things that they do, it’s all born of love. There’s no cruelty in our hearts. That and we do try to play and sing very loud.’
The pair have a soft spot for Perth Fringe World. Not just because we have one of the few remaining Spiegeltents left in the world, but because of the boutique feel we present our talent with.
‘In Perth, everybody is a bit more willing to help, whereas in Adelaide and Edinburgh it’s a bit more every man for himself,’ Mannish explained, noticeably shifting in his rather tight pants.
‘Fringe is mostly about self-producing your own show, but it’s all about connecting with people in the room and being more immediate and real than some larger scale theatre pieces. Fringe helps that atmosphere happen. It’s more personal.’
At this point Mannish – who is also known as an award winning championship ballroom Latin dancer, Frisky noted – excuses himself, allowing me to ask about whether those incredibly tight pants he is wearing are actually outlawed back home in England.
‘They are! Or they should be! One thing I can tell you is that when he started wearing those very skinny pants, to make sure he wasn’t flying completely free beneath them he actually used to wear a pair of my old tights for a period of time as a little half onesie.’
‘That was quite early on!’ Mannish jumped in, springing our surreptitious little conversation.
‘I hadn’t gotten the hang of things needing to be kept in place,’ he explained, ‘and I rocked up to one show and I was wearing some rather big baggy and very unwieldy boxer shorts and I was like “What am I going to do?!” and she was like “Ugh, borrow these tights!”. So ever since then I’ve always worn tights or a really small pants. So, y’know, it was all about working out logistics.’
The witty banter between this formable duo leads to one final, but all important question. It’s the question that every Australian is asking: how is Peter Andre going?
‘He’s gone a little bit quiet for a bit,’ Frisky laughed. ‘He’s not appearing on every TV show he can while parading his children around in front of the paparazzi. And he’s also given up on trying to do any real music. So he’s quite quiet at the moment, which is good. But yeah, thanks for him.’
Our pleasure!
Frisky & Mannish’s Pop Centrelink appears at The Fringe World Spiegeltent from February 5 – 18. For ticket information visit www.fringeworld.com.au
