JOE BLACK: CLUB CATACLYSM
Unsure of what to expect I took my seat at Theatre Royal Brighton persuaded to attend by friends. I knew a little about Joe Black but clearly not enough. His inclusion in Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK I did know about, some silly nonsense about a high street store bought frock and not doing well in a lip-sync challenge was about it.
Now friends will know that I am no fan of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, I admit to thinking that the man has talent, but it’s not the sort of drag that I like or for that matter admire. Okay the frocks are big and the make-up extreme and extremely well applied, but on occasional viewing that’s about as far as it goes for me. Yes, I know, some of them can deliver a bitchy aside and barbed line, but miming, sorry, I mean lip-syncing, well it just doesn’t cut it for me, especially in a city where local drag talent, albeit in less exotic frocks and syrups, get out there with sharp material and live vocals.
Joe Black stalked onto the stage with eerie lighting, in black jodhpurs and tails and delivered an evening of razor sharp comedy cabaret that any 1930s Berlin venue would have been proud of. He started with a scary rendition of Kurt Weill’s Moon Of Alabama, rasping away at the classic with power and with conviction before embarking on an evening of wicked comedy and music, the man’s plays piano, accordian and ukulele and makes frightening use of a loud hailer like a radical at a protest rally. His version of a Tom Waits classic is bold, his Spice Up Your Life hysterical and Britney’s Hit Me Baby is genius, unlike her own Pride mimed version, Black is LIVE and alive. Reading from a diary his observations of himself and of others are perfectly formed and delivered, self deprecation played side by side with searing asides that have us roaring with laughter, not at him but with him. There’s bitterness yes, but served with a sugary air of delight, and it worked. Joined on stage by Ed Parry (AKA Snow White Trash) on clarinet the whole musical delivery had that strange Berlin and klezmer vibe that I like so much.
And here lies the truth about this cabaret star, he is live and he has talent. It’s not drag to be honest, he’s not pretending to be a woman although I do see that he on occasions does wear a frock, he is a classy, if raw and edgy, act with plenty to say and the means to say it. And he’s fearless too, happily lifting the lid on his reality TV experiences. The crowd are whipped into a frenzy of admiration and I am drawn in, delighted to be seeing real cabaret, and real talent live. He returns to the stage for an encore delivered un-amplified and it is hauntingly good, and he also reveals that despite the horrors of the last two years the vile stalkers and lockdown doubts, he will be back and back soon with a new cabaret residency at Brighton’s Komedia. Catch him while you can, not just a survivor of drag race but in my view the real winner.
Andrew Kay
Theatre Royal Brighton
20 November
Rating: 
