Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

The premise could not be simpler: woman of a thousand voices Jess Robinson sings the greatest hits of Elton John in the style of various divas. Or should that be *other* divas, given the glam rock god’s reputation. Meanwhile, Robinson confesses: ‘This is  not the first love letter I’ve written to a gay man,’

Of course every track is a banger, but now given a new interpretation. Shakira’s take on Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word is a hit, as is Amy Winehouse’s Tiny Dancer and Kate Bush’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – this collection of covers given a twist by exaggerating the personas and vocal stylings of the stars Robinson so effectively impersonates. Meanwhile fans of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’s one-song-to-the-tune-of another round will be pleased with the Britney Spears / Benny & Jets mash-up.

The revamped songs are, by nature, gimmicky – save for Billie Eilish’s Candle In The Wind, which is a properly beautiful reinterpretation – but that’s the joke. And each track is so iconic that the night’s guaranteed to be a blast in Robinson’s capable hands. 

She’s the consummate showwoman, so dedicated to the cause that her earpiece and water bottle are encrusted with glitter, and so multi-talented she can even play the recorder and make it sound good

Her party trick, as seen in most of her previous shows, is to rattle through numerous impersonations on one song, which she does here with a  20-voice version of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Which impressions she does - from Rachel Reeves to Bjork - are picked from a wider pool by audience volunteers and served up in whatever order they choose with seamless ease.

It’s very impressive, and actually less messy than the three-way version of No Sacrifice she has Katherine Jenkins, Julie Andrews and Ariana Grande perform, with these voices across the generations competing with rather than complementing each other.

The comedy component is upped with a running sketch that has the compellingly bonkers Liza Minnelli incapable of sticking to the real lyrics of Lion King tracks, allegedly for a stage audition. As with Shakira or Kate Bush, it’s those personalities that allow Robinson to lean fully into the madness of the caricature that shine. 

She and her musical director Matthew Floyd Jones – of Frisky & Mannish fame – put in the quieter moments required to give the show ebb and flow, although Barbra Streisand’s sober version of I’m Still Standing loses more from being less rocky than Sir Elton’s original than it gains.

While Your Song is hugely entertaining stuff, for the most part, it’s left wanting for a greater sense of purpose than being a series of rollicking songs given a silly makeover. Fun though her version of the jukebox show is.

Review date: 31 Jul 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Assembly George Square