Scummy Mummies

Girls Behaving Gladly

The Scummy Mummies Greatest Hits

by Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn

Scummy Mummies at the Exchange Theatre, Twickenham until 4^th December, then on tour until 19^th December

Review by Heather Moulson

I’d heard great things about this prolific comedy duo, who run a successful podcast as well as extensively touring, and I was curious to see them ‘in the flesh’.  And I did, quite literally, as their tight revealing cat-suits made a striking first impression. 

Unsurprisingly, the audience predominately consisted of school mothers and PTA members.  However, I thought I’d come to Jerry Springer or The Fully Monty by mistake, as big parties of women were very raucous indeed.  True, school motherhood had ended for me some time ago, but this was not how I remembered Twickenham parents!  They exceeded the adage of letting their hair down on a rare night out. 

The PTA was the first group to come under fire from the witty Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn. Brutal, frank and hilarious, they tore into Christmas lists and put on a drag race of archetypal playground mums (painful memories flooded back).  The school WhatsApp group also got a pounding, which made me realise how glad I was to miss that era, e-mails being state of the art back then.  In fact, they took no prisoners at all, and sexual positions (while wrapping presents) were brought off marvellously without a trace of crudeness.  They carried off smut effortlessly. 

There were many interesting costume changes that seemed to fit (!) with the gynaecological and menopausal gags, plus an extraordinary amount of props being scattered around the stage, packed into that frantic and energetic two hours.  These performers were experienced and very aware, but they spoke over each other just that bit too often, making it hard for one to follow.  Despite the very clever lyrics, there were also too many songs.

A great attempt at Band Aid at the end, and cameo appearances from Mary and Jesus – with his stick-on beard.  The mum’s submitted written confessions at the end were on the anti-climatic side.  However, Gibson and Thorn fought their corners beautifully with difficult members of the audience, including a particularly troublesome front row. 

These two women have impressive backgrounds.   Helen Thorn, apart from being a Sunday Times Bestselling author, hosts her own hit podcast Fat Lot of Good, and Ellie Gibson is an award-winning games journalist.  Along with these qualifications, they both have an exceptional gift for comedy. 

Heather Moulson, December 2024

Photography courtesy of Scummy Mummies Ltd.