Goldie Fiasco is with us, fresh off the back of a tour of car parks on the Sunset Strip. She’s the second of three acts we’ve caught today while hanging out at The Pavement on the edge of the Theatre & Circus fields, and, despite having had a Tibetan curry for lunch from one of the many incredible food stall offerings on site, I’m still recovering from my accidental starring role in Groovy Guy’s show earlier in the day.
Luckily, when it comes to crowd participation, I avoid the call when Goldie plucks two audience members out of the crowd to help with her act. She plans to put them through an audition, with only one being crowned as her new assistant.
David from Manchester and Hugh from London are put to the ultimate test or, as Goldie puts it, doing what England can’t do – score a goal. She has the two hilariously strapped with a new appendage as they pass a ball past the other, with Goldie bawdily refereeing and adding irreverent commentary in the background. Manchester wins over London, and David is her new assistant – she’s shaking up the patriarchy, she notes, with a male assistant.
That said, David may have felt like he would live – or rather, not live – to regret his starring act as Goldie reveals his assistance mainly involves standing with his face through a hole in a wooden board while she throws knives at it, aiming to avoid him and hit the target.
What drives the show is Goldie’s fantastic, slightly chaotic personality – you’re in for a riotous time with her wonderful wit, off-hand comments and comic timing throughout a show that has included a variety of street performance and circus elements that bring the crowd together.
The chaos of her persona also adds to the drama as the knives begin to thump the board around David. Does she manage to avoid putting one through his skull? Luckily, there’s no inquest.
Goldie Fiasco performed on The Pavement at Glastonbury Festival 2024, running from 26 to 30 June