Six Chick Flicks returned to Orlando with a full house at the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center. It was the first time Central Florida has had a chance to see this show from pair Kerry Ipema and KK Apple since 2022. My introduction to the duo was the astounding performance at the debut of their new show at Orlando Fringe last month, We Got Got. You can read my thoughts on that show, here!
The retelling of the chick flicks was parodied with a tight script and constant jokes, with the years of practice in performing being apparent. The performers use everything in the toolbox: crowdwork, costume changes, vocal inflections reminiscent of a seagull, spot-on impressions, wigs, a recorder, the list goes on. In order to not feel like bland retellings, the show reanalyzes female characters of these movies, whose main demographic is women, under the lens of male writers. “The Rose Effect” is introduced and referenced throughout, and was actually incredibly effective at both critiquing the films, and gaining plenty of laughs.
The black sheep of the series was clearly Beaches, a parody that was written incredibly well critiquing portrayal of friendships and the bizarre framing device of the movie. The show moves past this title quickly and acknowledges its boring nature in the finale. In fact, I think each of the three improvised titles had more time on stage than Beaches. Which leads me to the extended version of the show.
There was an intermission after the first four titles were parodied. Coming back from the intermission was a reading of meet-cutes the audience wrote down before the show. There were quite a few of these shared and it maybe went on for a bit too long, despite some great stories and a fun reading of them. A reference or two was made to these stories throughout the rest of this show. I think the longevity of the bit might have something to do with the fact that this performance was recorded and the editing of the show will keep this section a little leaner.
There was a parody of one more title before another portion of the show was introduced. I am not sure why these portions were not sequenced together after intermission for pacing, but I digress. The performers took 3 suggestions from the audience of other chick flicks. And WOW, this was impressive. The duo did not shy away from titles with any excuses like “haven’t seen it,” “don’t remember the details,” or “too boring.” They grabbed the bull by the horns and committed. Each movie was parodied with such quality, it could easily fit into the usual repertoire of scripted parodies. KK did not recall one characters name and Kerry worked the character name into dialogue. They have the skills to have deftly continued, but the confidence and awareness to make another joke of it. This section was the highlight of the extended portions of the show, surely!
The final parody took a few beats to discuss a more serious topic, which was received well, and felt right at home within the context of chick flicks. A more controversial stance was made during The Notebook when they claimed Ryan Reynolds was the hotter Ryan than Ryan Gosling, and they did not care to receive feedback on that one. Them’s fightin’ words.
Overall, this was a phenomenal show. The performance from the duo is magical, and their skills really shine. The humor is constant, and the writing is smart and folded into the show neatly.
My verdict: ORGASMS! ORGASMS! ORGASMS!
Future showings of this show and We Got Got can be found on the Six Chick Flicks website here, though no performances are announced at time of writing.
Six Chick Flicks is Written & Directed by KK Apple, TJ Dawe, and Kerry Ipema; Performed by KK Apple and Kerry Ipema; and Produced by KK Apple and Kerry Ipema.