Singer finds the perfect pitch for her comedy act

Sarah-Louise Young - Cabaret: Petham Village Hall AN EVENING with Sarah-Louise Young is like being treated to a one-off special featuring Liza Minnelli and Edith Piaf – only jaw-achingly funny to boot. Not only does the former Simon Langton Girls’ School pupil offer noteperfect pastiches of the above but her self-penned comic showtunes are hilarious. By turns a diva, an artiste, a crooner, a chanteuse, Sarah-Louise is in any guise pitched to perfection, musically and comically. Act One at Petham featured personal touches as well, in the references to the star’s Langton musical days, her time with the East Kent Girls’ Choir, and the loving nod to her mum in the audience. Act Two took us off-Broadway through the crooner tunes of the washed-up Bernie St Claire (picture an embittered and boozed Minnelli bleached grey), thence to Paris via the Piaf-esque lungs of one La PoulePlombée. Accompanying throughout was pianist and long-time musical collaborator Michael Roulston. The pair even treated us to a premiere – a song they had finished that very morning! Sarah-Louise’s voice alone was worth the admission; couple it with a genius for comedy, a natural rapport with her audience, the fact she writes her own material – she may well be the most talented stage star this district has ever produced. Already a multi-award winner, veteran of the Edinburgh Fringe, of West End and Broadway shows, critically acclaimed in Australia, France… you’d do well to catch her where you can.

Log on to www.sarah-louise-young. com for more information

Stella Reeves