Review: How To Live A Jellicle Life (Electric Arcade)

Two trains, one delayed, and a rail replacement bus service got me to Brighton. The venue, as described by Linus, was cool in every sense of the word. Situated on the seafront, the cold January air that wafted in through the open doors left no audience member sans coat. How, then, did Linus manage to perform his powerpoint assisted performance with such aplomb that I forgot about my freezing appendages? His furry costume probably helped. How To Live A Jellicle Life is a wonderfully crafted hour of bizarre, TEDTalk-esque, Cats inspired, Oh-so-Jellicle fun, it would be a shame for you to miss it.

It’s quite hard to pin down exactly why I loved this show. I’ve never seen Cats, the musical or the film, and knew absolutely nothing about it. I’m not particularly interested in Musical Theatre, I don’t know what a Jellicle is, and I had no real inclination to find out. A hearty thanks to Linus then, for showing me all the magic my cynical ass was missing.

Linus is in a cat costume, for obvious reasons, and over the course of an hour he leads us through a heavily comic-sans reliant powerpoint that answers all the questions you could possibly have (and some you definitely don’t have) about Cats; inspiring us all to be more Jellicle. If you don’t know anything about Cats, don’t worry because Linus will explain it all. The primary characters, the premise of the Jellicle Ball, The Heaviside Layer, the contradictions of Macavity, all are demystified through dance, song, and futuristic PowerPoint effects.

Linus’ bizarre obsession with the much-derided musical adaptation is contagious, and all his hilarious observations are indisputably well-researched. Of course Taylor Swift is unable to shake off the character of Bombalurina, just take a look at her last album! Of course twin cats Tantomile and Coricopat are inspired by Jedward, just take a look at their…tension! Even in the cold, it is a pleasure to be in Linus’ presence as he leads us through the lessons we can glean from Cats. Be more Jellicle, be relaxed, be sexy, be into the theatre, wear a mask, don’t break every human law, tell all your friends about the show (this is me doing that), and give the film a chance. Do that, then we can all meet for a Jellicle drink in The Heaviside Layer, mine's a saucer of milk.

Catch How To Live A Jellicle Life: Life Lessons From The 2019 Hit Movie Musical ‘Cats’ on tour. All dates and venues are available here.

Photo by Dave Bird