What Would Beyonce Do? (Tour – Salford)

Venue: The Lowry
Where: Salford

Luisa Omielan is a real treat, oozing with talent, humour and some killer bootylicious dance moves. Shocking and witty. Refreshing and questioning. Insightful and unhinged. What Would Beyonce Do?!  is uplifting, intense and fearless.

Throughout this one woman stand-up show, the audience are led through Luisa’s confessional and cringy life experiences, bizarre sexual relationships and family politics. Resembling that crazy and needy but likeable friend that you can never hang the telephone up on, Luisa’s performance is no holds barred. Sassy and fierce, she shares explicit details about her sexual encounters and her views on mental health. She seeks to compare herself to Beyonce by flying the flag for all of the independent women in a diva-esque fashion. Sadly, in reality the tragi-comic events that she describes and her lack of self esteem provide an ironic backdrop and an intense source of hilarity for the audience.  

Luisa gives a very honest performance. As a graduate from Salford University, she seems genuinely pleased to be performing at The Lowry. The show is energetic from start to finish and Luisa’s warmth is infectious throughout, demonstrating impeccable improvisational skills. Some of the best comedy moments were those that seemed genuinely impromptu – whether this be banter with the audience, an unplanned impression of Margaret Thatcher or the finale music failing to play on cue.

At the show I attended, Luisa took on an array of different personalities, attitudes and accents – a Southern Belle, a Jamaican cow and her Polish mother, to name but a few. She covered a multitude of subjects – managing to put a hilarious spin on even the most absurd of topics while handling those which could be deemed sensitive with a light hand.

Luisa is one highly talented lady and quite possibly the ‘Queen B’ of comedy. The show closed to raucous applause with many of the audience on their feet and dancing to “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. I left the show feeling empowered and liberated, my jaw aching from laughing at Luisa’s absurd, sassy and refreshingly frenetic take on life.

– Kristy Stott