Chris and Pui – Show Me – De Montfort Hall, 18th October 2010

Chris Jarvis and Pui Fan Lee are known to parents of young children as the presenters of the popular CBeebies show Show Me Show Me.  I took my youngest daughter with me to see what was going on. She would be useful in writing my review! In all honesty, she was probably a little too young, being just a week short of her second birthday. She was interested for a bit, but kept losing interest in what was happening on stage.
 
The show wasn’t an official version of the TV programme, but certainly shared much of the energy and the ethos.

Chris put the audience at ease, saying, “We’re not on video now; you can talk back!” After initial resistance, children and parents clapped, sang and laughed along with gusto. The emphasis was on well-known children’s songs and rhymes to encourage joining in; Grand Old Duke of York, Humpty Dumpty and I Can Sing a Rainbow all featured. One slightly odd moment occurred when Pui came out dressed as Incy Wincy Spider. The children probably didn’t notice, but Incy had too many legs... Oh well!

The stage was simply set with a few free-standing banners. Props, with the exception of a couple of costumes were simple; a few toys, some fancy dress and even a clothes drying rack. This simplicity kept attention focussed on the two leads, which was no mean feat when at least some of the crowd were as interested in the mere fact that their seat went up and down as the people on stage. The use of large cards counting up to ten also helped structure the show for the kids.

I hadn't been to anything like this before, so was completely unsure of what to expect. My closest experience was the occasional panto show. Chris and Pui slipped in a few references that were designed to appeal more to the adults, but most of it was aimed squarely at the kids. The enjoyment on the faces of the children was reward enough for most of the parents.

Mine, needless to say, was more interested in her seat going up and down.