“We're very much about the strange loopholes in religion to work around problems in a marriage, like that your husband's gay, and you don't find Jewish men remotely attractive, which is our particular dilemma,” said Joseph. “And we just step the audience through, giving them rules and tools to make a marriage work, because that's the kind of underlying aim: that we want to make successful marriages.”
Candy Gigi and Tom Joseph are Michelle and Howard Fissure in their upcoming comedy 'Chicken Soup Dates.'[Missing Credit]
For those who’ve been to Jewish club night Buttmitzvah, Gigi and Joseph will be familiar faces. The pair perform together as members of the event’s debauched host family, the Rimmers, with Gigi portraying the off-putting bat mitzvah girl Becky and Joseph her straight-faced father Mervyn, in a trio completed by Alex Eisenberg who plays the mother, Gaye.
Chicken Soup Dates reunites Joseph and Gigi for a similarly provocative performance as husband and wife Howard and Michelle in a show that “definitely shares some of the DNA of Butt Mitzvah,” says Joseph. Which means it’s loud, vulgar, and oh-so Jewish.
Last year, the duo put on one show when Gigi was 36 weeks pregnant – and her baby bump became part of the performance. “Her pregnant belly and her unborn child were, in many ways, the star of that show,” says Joseph. This year, the baby stars again, though you’ll have to see the show to find out in quite what capacity.
"When we did this show last time, it came together remarkably quickly,” says Joseph. “We have the gift of this format – a love guru seminar which people pay to attend, We pack in lots of jokes, including idea that you're always being upsold extras...
The card machine is quite a character on stage.”
In the show, The Fissures acknowledge early on that not everyone in their audience will be Jewish. In fact, that the icebreaker in their seminar involves bringing two non-Jewish audience members on stage for “our trademarked speed conversion to Judaism”, a process that culminates in “watching the entirety of Schindler's List, just to inherit some trauma.”
“As much as we use the odd Yiddish phrase, we're able to bring everyone along and share Jewish identity and humour with as broad an audience as possible,” says Joseph, whose character speaks in a “shtetl-tinged accent” despite having never left London.
For an extra serving of seminar realism, the Fissures are offering free chicken soup from an urn on stage - perfect for sipping from polystyrene cups.
And as for the show’s namesake, internet series Chicken Shop Dates, hosted by Jewish comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg, the Fissures think they’ve got a better idea for a first-date meal.
"Chicken soup to begin and if things go well, we would encourage some chopped liver and some cholent to be on standby.”
Chicken Soup Dates is at Soho Theatre on 29 July, 19 August, 29 September and 27 October
