Chastity Butterworth & The Spanish Hamster

The prim and proper English aristocrat with an unlikely seedy side appears at the Fringe pretty much every year in one form or another, and Gemma Whelan puts little original spin on the formula. Much as the Game of Thrones actress proves herself an impressive character comedian with a fine line in suggestive nods, winks, courtesies and lustful quivers of the lips.

Chastity Butterworth, buttoned-up literally head-to-toe Victorian-style in a blouse and ankle-length skirt, has just been evicted from her home over a misunderstanding with her dealer. “Drugs not art”. This anything-goes guddle of a “variety show” is styled as a fundraiser to help get her back in the black.

It’s all about levering easy laughs out of the contradiction between Butterworth’s outwardly posh demeanour and unsavoury nocturnal pursuits. She was, she reveals, “twisted on mescaline” and “garrotted on poppers” at a squat party last night.

The format moves around a bit, from a video sequence of dirty old men (all played by Whelan) vying to become the less-than-chaste Chastity’s new threesome partner, to an audience-interactive quiz recapping on events to see who’s been paying attention. The titular Spanish hamster is momentarily crowbarred in at one point literally as an afterthought. But the core joke remains consistent throughout – Butterworth’s loose and no lie, and it gets tedious with scant consideration given to character development. To the rescue are several so-bad-they’re-good one-liners, suggesting Whelan is going all-out for this year’s funniest short-form Fringe joke.