Buffy Revamped – Wilton’s Music Hall, London

A review of Buffy Revamped, in which comedian Brendan Murphy tackles all seven seasons of 90s cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 70 minutes. An entertaining evening of jokes, songs, and plenty of 90s nostalgia, all from the perspective of bad boy vampire Spike.

Buffy Revamped

I just can’t stay away from Wilton’s! I was here last week to see creative and erudite Dead Poets Live. And now am back again, this time for quite a different sort of show. Buffy Revamped is, as you may have guessed from the title, a show all about the 1990s TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s the work of comedian Brendan Murphy; he has also written and starred in FRIEND (The One With Gunther), a reimagining of another cult 1990s TV show, from the perspective of Central Perk barista Gunther.

Murphy is smart in choosing these shows with big followings. Buffy is just the right sort of series to achieve this status. It has a kick-ass Girl Power lead in the form of Buffy Summers. Plus plenty of love triangles and over the top storylines, and camp 90s special effects. I didn’t count myself as a massive fan, and haven’t rewatched any episodes in many years. But I was surprised how much of it I did remember as Murphy made his way through the various seasons.

And he does this from the perspective of Spike. Spike, for those who don’t know much about Buffy (in which case why are you reading this?), was a sort of complex villain/alternative love interest in the series. He wasn’t in the first season, or the third, but then stuck around until the end.

After taking an unscientific opinion poll (of myself, my theatre buddy, and listening to conversations around me), Spike was much more popular than official love interest Angel. Angel was a vampire with a soul, which just made him a bit boring and wishy-washy. Spike, a Billy Idol lookalike, was bad and dangerous. He had some slightly insane storylines involving robots and a chip in his brain, and a loopy girlfriend named Drusilla. But overall was somewhere for impressionable teenage viewers to pin problematic ‘I could fix him’ daydreams. So all in all a good choice to narrate the evening’s entertainment.

A Good Time Had By All

In terms of how the show works, we were promised seven seasons in 70 action-packed minutes. And that’s what we got! It’s very high energy comedy, full of characters and props to bring them to life. Murphy has written poetry to share with us, as well as parody versions of 90s songs.

Despite not being a Buffy super-fan, I really enjoyed myself. The show is fun, interactive and light-hearted, and I enjoyed the 90s nostalgia (as I did when I saw Scream recently – reliving my youth I guess). The majority of the audience did, however, seem to be Buffy super-fans. It looked to be a pretty packed house, and there were plenty of nods back and forth between audience members as their favourite characters or subplots (or plotholes) were referenced. It’s not easy to please an audience who are already so invested in the subject under discussion, so kudos to Murphy for that!

I think for me, the only drawback was that I was in the cheap seats. There was one particular spot where quite a lot of action took place that I couldn’t see. But it didn’t ruin my enjoyment, and I brandished my “emergency stakes” (see above) with the best of them. So if you’re looking for a fun night out and enjoy some combination of 90s pop culture, vampires, cult TV shows or satirical one-man comedy shows, look no further!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Buffy Revamped on at Wilton’s until 23 April, or check here for future listings