Sean Burnett Dugdale-Martin
It’s the last night of Comedy Festival in Wellington and all the queers and allies are packing into Fringe Bar for a trans lineup show. There are 11 comedians on the bill for this gig and I read online that this is scheduled for 60 minutes… as sceptical as I am about making it back to my car in the New World 90 minute window all my fears are dissuaded by MC Judy Virago’s plan of giving each comedian a strict fie minutes before being booted off-stage. The boujee and ruthless demeanour of our MC has me hooked early for all that is to come.
Virago sets the scene by having us choose what they will refer to us as throughout the night. We suggest a few collective nouns and then cheer to vote on which one we want for the night. After we are enthusiastically designated “sluts”, Virago sends out the first act: Jules Daniel. I’ve performed on lineups with Jules before (it’s a small town after all) and they never cease to be both dirty yet charmingly endearing. Their tone is quickly becoming iconic in the Wellington stand-up and cabaret scene and I love their Jack-White-but-Trans vibe. Daniel’s always hits and it very responsive to their audience.
Next up is a drag performance by Sir Traylene who gives an enthusiastic, if a little unrefined, angsty-boy performance. The premise is strong for this performance but, unfortunately, it did not sing for me (no-pun intended). An enticing notion of a boy who grows up a little only to become confused with a comical Freudian Oedipus Complex. I can’t give any suggestions as I have no professional experience with drag but I trust that Traylene, as a professional, has the chops to refine this into a classic Pōneke performance- I’ll be keeping an eye on the trajectory of this one!
George Fenn follows Sir Traylene with stand-up. I also have performed alongside George Fenn and let me tell you when George revealed that they had cut their hair short, I gasped. “I’m the straightest I have ever looked!” exclaims Fenn at the top of his tight five, but we forgive easily. I understand that it can be stressful to only have five minutes before overpowering red lights wash over the stage telling you to leave (comically oppressive) but I would suggest that Fenn slow down their delivery. Fenn has a delivery style that can fall into mumbling and it’s always a shame to miss anything that comes out!
After Fenn is Olympia Kallipygos with an inspired and creative drag performance of someone choosing which bathroom to use. This drag is the most interesting narrative-ly and has more of an enticing evolution through the performance as we watch Kallipygos shift from unfurling a snake from their trousers to just chilling on a toilet on their phone during an instrumental. In the time allotted, I consider this a powerful snapshot of political comic satire on the conservative and harmful perception that trans people are monsters for trying to use the wrong bathroom!
Carrie Taurima follows with some bashful and shy comedy. A breath of fresh air I didn’t realise I needed: Taurima gets the laughs out of the audience by going into relationships without the explicit sexual details. This set made me look back at just how often comics go in for the nitty-gritty gross and glamorous sexual content. Taurima is an endearing injection of wholesome content!
Liv Ward is my favourite of the whole night. Blisteringly funny and seemingly surprised by it. Ward tells a story about coming out to her Aunty and performs a song about that same Aunty mispronouncing a popular brand of peanut butter. Ward has a magnetic way of saying things with brevity and deadpan. They pack such a punch it’s hard to put into words how much I enjoyed myself watching Ward perform. Halfway through their 5 minutes, Ward began a habit of saying how great we are as an audience. I ask myself: Where have they been? What kind of audiences must they be in front of that success is so surprising? An apparent diamond in the rough, Ward is straight up and a must-watch. Watch out for this name, Pōneke, I’ll be following them for sure!
Wesley Hollis follows with a pun-centric set and a shit-eating grin. As stoked as can be whenever the audience groans, Hollis does well to set them up and knock them down. I think what really hits for Hollis is the sense that they are enjoying the puns and jokes on the same level as we are. There isn’t an entitled sense of “I know it’s funny” like I’ve seen from cis-male one-liners and punny comedians. There’s a wholesome giggling that comes from Hollis whenever one lands that reels us in after every groan, prompting more giggles throughout the audience.
Robin Yablind is our third drag performance for the evening and breaks up the stand-up comedy in the second half. This chic and slick drag-ula performance is high energy and accompanies a well-edited medley with samples from famous media about vampires. Yablind is known as a superstar in the scene and is always delightful to watch. Their face naturally draws the eye, their wide eyes convey delight and invite us in a seductively playful way, instead of a dark and gothic way.
Leo Lennox is the last stand-up of the night and has a curated five minutes around the premise of asking straight guys how to be masculine since they are still trying to figure out what it means to transition to male and it turns out no one thought to ask da boys! A spot on perspective of what it means to be friends with da boys, so simple and so stupid. Lennox is understated and hilarious, I want to be friends with them.
We finish the night with Lily Catastrophe performing a tantalising feather-fan drag number to the most powerfully outrageous song I have ever heard. A line from which is: “I’m afraid that someone is going to have sex with my dead body and then say not worth it afterwards.” A beautiful performance of femme-sexuality paired with an uncensored song about these kinds of fears mixed with intrusive thoughts that I’ve not seen much of in media. A performance I will be thinking about long afterwards.
It was a big night at the Fringe Bar and Judy Virago did as they set out to and steered a tight ship for us late-night sluts which meant I could make it back to my car without being ticketed! I find line-up shows constantly inspiring as a writer and performer myself, and this brand of trans comedy made me feel proud to be non-gendered. The team should all be proud of their work alongside each other and I wish them all a good rest after another Comedy Fest.
Find more info in the show here but be aware that you might need to individually search up each artist to follow them!
Next up is a drag performance by Sir Traylene who gives an enthusiastic, if a little unrefined, angsty-boy performance. The premise is strong for this performance but, unfortunately, it did not sing for me (no-pun intended). An enticing notion of a boy who grows up a little only to become confused with a comical Freudian Oedipus Complex. I can’t give any suggestions as I have no professional experience with drag but I trust that Traylene, as a professional, has the chops to refine this into a classic Pōneke performance- I’ll be keeping an eye on the trajectory of this one!
George Fenn follows Sir Traylene with stand-up. I also have performed alongside George Fenn and let me tell you when George revealed that they had cut their hair short, I gasped. “I’m the straightest I have ever looked!” exclaims Fenn at the top of his tight five, but we forgive easily. I understand that it can be stressful to only have five minutes before overpowering red lights wash over the stage telling you to leave (comically oppressive) but I would suggest that Fenn slow down their delivery. Fenn has a delivery style that can fall into mumbling and it’s always a shame to miss anything that comes out!
After Fenn is Olympia Kallipygos with an inspired and creative drag performance of someone choosing which bathroom to use. This drag is the most interesting narrative-ly and has more of an enticing evolution through the performance as we watch Kallipygos shift from unfurling a snake from their trousers to just chilling on a toilet on their phone during an instrumental. In the time allotted, I consider this a powerful snapshot of political comic satire on the conservative and harmful perception that trans people are monsters for trying to use the wrong bathroom!
Carrie Taurima follows with some bashful and shy comedy. A breath of fresh air I didn’t realise I needed: Taurima gets the laughs out of the audience by going into relationships without the explicit sexual details. This set made me look back at just how often comics go in for the nitty-gritty gross and glamorous sexual content. Taurima is an endearing injection of wholesome content!
Liv Ward is my favourite of the whole night. Blisteringly funny and seemingly surprised by it. Ward tells a story about coming out to her Aunty and performs a song about that same Aunty mispronouncing a popular brand of peanut butter. Ward has a magnetic way of saying things with brevity and deadpan. They pack such a punch it’s hard to put into words how much I enjoyed myself watching Ward perform. Halfway through their 5 minutes, Ward began a habit of saying how great we are as an audience. I ask myself: Where have they been? What kind of audiences must they be in front of that success is so surprising? An apparent diamond in the rough, Ward is straight up and a must-watch. Watch out for this name, Pōneke, I’ll be following them for sure!
Wesley Hollis follows with a pun-centric set and a shit-eating grin. As stoked as can be whenever the audience groans, Hollis does well to set them up and knock them down. I think what really hits for Hollis is the sense that they are enjoying the puns and jokes on the same level as we are. There isn’t an entitled sense of “I know it’s funny” like I’ve seen from cis-male one-liners and punny comedians. There’s a wholesome giggling that comes from Hollis whenever one lands that reels us in after every groan, prompting more giggles throughout the audience.
Robin Yablind is our third drag performance for the evening and breaks up the stand-up comedy in the second half. This chic and slick drag-ula performance is high energy and accompanies a well-edited medley with samples from famous media about vampires. Yablind is known as a superstar in the scene and is always delightful to watch. Their face naturally draws the eye, their wide eyes convey delight and invite us in a seductively playful way, instead of a dark and gothic way.
Leo Lennox is the last stand-up of the night and has a curated five minutes around the premise of asking straight guys how to be masculine since they are still trying to figure out what it means to transition to male and it turns out no one thought to ask da boys! A spot on perspective of what it means to be friends with da boys, so simple and so stupid. Lennox is understated and hilarious, I want to be friends with them.
We finish the night with Lily Catastrophe performing a tantalising feather-fan drag number to the most powerfully outrageous song I have ever heard. A line from which is: “I’m afraid that someone is going to have sex with my dead body and then say not worth it afterwards.” A beautiful performance of femme-sexuality paired with an uncensored song about these kinds of fears mixed with intrusive thoughts that I’ve not seen much of in media. A performance I will be thinking about long afterwards.
It was a big night at the Fringe Bar and Judy Virago did as they set out to and steered a tight ship for us late-night sluts which meant I could make it back to my car without being ticketed! I find line-up shows constantly inspiring as a writer and performer myself, and this brand of trans comedy made me feel proud to be non-gendered. The team should all be proud of their work alongside each other and I wish them all a good rest after another Comedy Fest.
Find more info in the show here but be aware that you might need to individually search up each artist to follow them!