Hotsy-Totsy is bringing a chaotic children’s party for adults to Melbourne Fringe

After years of entertaining children at birthday parties, Ava O’Brien and Peggie Barnes decided they deserved a different kind of audience. The New Zealand act have swapped balloon animals and face painting for a two-hander packed with clowning, puppetry, magic and whatever else they can throw at the stage. After premiering at the 2026 New Zealand Fringe Festival, Hotsy-Totsy now heads to Melbourne. We caught up with O’Brien and Barnes to talk about escaping the birthday-party circuit, turning their skills into a show for adults and why, sometimes, you just need to book yourself a better gig.

For O’Brien and Barnes, the appeal of creating a children's party for adults lay in the feelings of excitement and wonder of being completely swept up in the experience. "We felt the magic of a captivated audience and figured that adults love entertainment just as much as kids. When Elsa shows up at your 5th birthday and you're high on sugar, you are invincible," they tell me. "We wanted to capture that feeling in our own performances and bring adults into that silly magical world. It's got the thrill, energy and unbridled joy of a children’s party, but filled with much more adult humour. It's us playing ourselves, with our inner children onstage with us, and no one is putting the brakes on!"

Hotsy-Totsy premiered in New Zealand earlier this year, where it received rave reviews, sold-out nights, and won the San Diego Fringe Tour Ready Award. Having had this first season has given O’Brien and Barnes time to reflect on the show and refine it ahead of its upcoming Australian run. "We learnt a lot during that season. We’ve built on the moments people enjoyed most, while overhauling the parts we want to surprise them with through tighter choreography and, naturally, more rhinestones. Being perfectionists means we can really hone in on the craft and play the game with a new audience."

The show mixes cabaret and clowning, which in turn requires some audience interaction, and even a heckle or two. "The clowning elements invite the audience up as guests in certain acts, and how they choose to participate gives us, as performers, a really fun challenge of following our noses, while staying close enough to the tracks that we don't derail," they tell me. "Luckily there being two of us means we keep each other in check. We've previously had a frozen pizza brought up on stage and Peggie’s dad heckled us, both of which were perfect fodder for us and Hotsy-Totsy!"

And while they keep each other in check, their relationship also allows them to make each other look ridiculous, knowing there is enough trust between them to give in to whatever unfurls. "Sometimes it feels telepathic the way we can jump on each other's offers," they explain. "Making each other laugh is how this all started, just constantly escalating bits at any chance we had, and so making the audience laugh together is a high we are chasing! Looking ridiculous is what the game is about, and we are trying to surprise each other at every opportunity, as well as push scenes a little further than before and see how the audience reacts."

That willingness to continually escalate the absurdity also extends to the show’s embrace of childishness, with O’Brien and Barnes seeing a sense of release in giving adults permission to be silly. "Children are not self conscious, they speak and act however they want to at any given moment. This show is liberating because nothing that we do on stage is embarrassing to us, and yet it is utterly unconventional and inappropriate for adults to act this way in normal life. The world of Hotsy-Totsy invites audiences to revel in the outrageousness together and allow ourselves to laugh at things that are inherently childish, and often lowbrow!"

Better RSVP to this pretty quickly, because Hotsy-Totsy is one party you won’t want to miss...

FRINGE FIVE FAST ONES

1. My pre-show ritual is
PB: Stretching, breath work and telling everyone how much I love them.
AO: Hugging Peggie and telling her I trust her.
2. If a song was to play each time we entered a room, it would be
Both: 'Big Spender' by Peggy Lee.
3. If I could instantly become amazing at one skill, it would be
PB: aerial silks, ugh I would love to do more circus! Or one of those illegal backflips in figure skating - so rock and roll.
AB: FIRE EATING!
4. If I were forced to eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would be
PB: I already eat the same breakfast every day and I will never tire of it - 2 fried eggs with melted cheese and salt and pepper on top, on a piece of rye bread lathered in butter and marmite. Sometimes I go crazy and wilt some spinach on the side.
AO: It’s gotta be chicken noodle soup. That shit makes me feel like I’m a horse running through a field afterward.
5. The hill we will die on is
Both: Everyone should make a show with their best friend. What could go wrong?

SHOW DETAILS 

Venue: The Motley Wherehaus, 432 Queen St, Melbourne
Season: 12 - 18 October | 7.45pm

Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $26 Full | $21 Conc | $20 Hump Day Wednesday
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Images credit: Charlie Jewell