If you want a dose of feel good fun to combat the ennui of modern life, with enough pop-culture references to poke a dick-pic at, then Miss Behave’s Game Show is the show for you.

In some form of post-apocalyptic style discrimination, we, the audience / participants are divided from the outset, based on what style of phone we use: iPhone or “other”.  

The two groups are then pitted against each other in games of skill, chance, bravery, and sheer audacity where Miss Behave doesn’t make the rules, life isn’t fair, the points are kind of arbitrary and the prizes are, well, crap.

It is hands down one of the best nights out with a group of strangers I have had in a long time.

Miss Behave is ably assisted by her limber, leather hot-panted assistant Harriet. Harriet plays a silent, comic foil to the resigned and philosophical Miss Behave. Together they are the Frankenstein that turns us into teams of unashamed, technological tryhards and then have the task of controlling their monster creation.

Miss Behave is clearly some form of voodoo, shar-woman who on a wet Sunday night manages to get a room full of usually reticent Cantabrians screaming, dancing, grinding, thrusting and borderline physically assaulting each other all in the name of getting her to award our team a point or two.

Harriet in turn flits from scatology to interpretive dance to in-your-endo physical humour without ever losing a beat, all the while (wo)manning the on-stage technology.

Their ability on the fly is exceptional, and Miss Behave takes the dross being pitched at her non-stop by the miscreant crowd and turns it into comedy gold.

The fun of the show is in the low-fi, ‘everyone can be a winner’ nature of the games, and #nospoilers so you will have to go along to see it. It also caters well to both technology natives and the generations of us who didn’t grow up surgically attached to a powered device.

While not everyone’s cup of tea (I did notice a few people nipping out) my very phlegmatic companion who is usually morally opposed to audience participation is on his feet screaming “Night Rider!” at one point.  I – being the type that loves this kind of thing – have to give myself large doses of self-talk not to try and win every game, and considering points are taken off for “crawling” this proves a judicious decision.

It speaks volumes to the Buskers Festival brand that they are essentially programming high-quality fringe and cabaret acts like Miss Behave’s Game Show and encouraging what can be a conservative audience base to attend in droves. Bravo, and more please. 

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