The Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Merlyn Theatre – The MalthouseReviewed on Saturday April 2, 2022
This review may contain spoilers
Earlier this year, I had the good fortune of enjoying Reuben Kaye host ‘The Kaye Hole’ at Brisbane’s QPAC. I must confess that I purchased my ticket blind, based purely on his eye-catching publicity poster. From the outset, I knew I would be in for a great time when he declared how someone like him was playing next door to Disney’s ‘Frozen’. My fandom was immediate.
A mixture of cabaret, beat poetry, mime, and circus arts, I left QPAC wanting more. His solo show, The Butch Is Back (at The Malthouse’s Merlyn Theatre) satisfies that hunger in depth and then some.
If Hugh Jackman had a wicked stepsister, his name would be Reuben Kaye. Blessed with matinee idol looks, false eyelashes to outrival Tammy Faye Bakker and a bawdy wit to spare, for eighty jam-packed minutes Kaye struts the stage like he owns the world.
Distinctly adult in flavour, this is not a journey for the faint-hearted. An inherent part of Kaye’s cheeky drag persona, the double-entendres and descriptive sexual imagery fly thick and fast. To be fair, Saturday night’s audience knew exactly what they would be getting and ate up every delicious second.
Holding court like an evangelical minister (and there were several very pointed references to ‘Hillsong’), it is clear that Kaye was with his people. Thanks to the artist’s overt generosity, I defy anyone not to be won over.
Backed by a six-piece band, Kaye’s act is a mixture of high-octane pop and reflective ballads. Like a lot of cabaret, he uses these songs to propel a political yet personal narrative. Herein lies the show’s food-for-thought genius. Slowly peeling away the proverbial onion, Kaye’s uses his flash and glitter to reveal a supremely intelligent, socially conscious maverick.
He splices up several tunes with a tremendous gift for storytelling. In many instances, the audience was sick with laughter. Whilst at other moments, particularly when he talks about his immigrant parents and their escape from war-torn Europe or growing up gay in Melbourne, you could hear a pin drop. Even in these darker parts, Kaye is that good at keeping us fully-engaged.
Fusing together a handful of remastered musical standards and excellent sound design, gives the experience stadium level atmosphere. Coupled with outstanding lighting and pacing, The Butch Is Back could rival many a Las Vegas showroom spectacular.
To highlight Kaye’s own words from a recent online interview, he says, “Although the show is deliberately comedic and very fast-paced and very high energy, at its core it has a root that is about tolerance, about acceptance, and about taking something tragic in your life and making chicken salad out of chicken shit.”
My biggest takeaway from its award-winning heart, is the realisation that one size doesn’t fit all. Nor it should, as Kaye encourages viewers to discover and embrace the best versions of themselves instead.
If you want as much bang for your buck at this year’s festival as possible, The Butch Is Back plays until Sunday April 24.
Don’t miss out.