The autobiographical show explores what its like to live in a body that doesn’t match who you are. It’s described as a work that pays homage to queer ancestors who paved the way and not-so-queer folks who did their best.

I understand the main characters are a grown up tomboy and a drag queen fairy godmother, so it certainly lives up to its name, can you give us a brief rundown of Queer as Flux?

The show is my fourth autobiographical solo show and I have continued to explore gender in each of the shows.

It’s obviously been something personal to me as well, and in the show I go through different ages of my own personal story, but I’m guided by an alter-ego drag queen fairy godmother named Polly Tickle.

She’s very much about educating Stace around queer history, and guiding the Stace character – who’s name changes over time as well – through different pivotal moments or transitioning moments in their life.

I understand at the heart of the show is the concept of transitioning, but the context is broader than trans and gender diverse folks and bodies, what are you exploring here when you talk about transition?

My whole kind of premise is that transitioning is universal, everybody’s doing it, from babies to drag queens to ageing parents within the story.

I talk about my own mother’s transition into dementia, my father’s transition into being her care-giver.

I look at dying, near death experiences, interspecies, the environment in terms of how our climate is transitioning and what’s happening anatomically even to different animals because of what we’re doing.

Everybody transitions in lots of different ways, so let’s not think that gender transitioning is this weird or strange thing in terms of a mainstream kind of way of perceiving it.

Queer as Flux takes a look at queer history and not-so-queer people who also made the history books, how does that play into the story?

Well the not-so-queer people in the story are my actual living parents, definately no-so-queer. In Polly’s storytelling she’s looking at key historical moments where there was a transition or change in what happened, or someone trying to block that as well.

She’s very much a time travelling drag queen, so she’s been throughout time and space and witnessed different things that have happened politically, and so her story is very much about inserting herself in different political moments and teaching Stace about what’s important and we need to treasure our ‘trans-cestors’.

You portray multiple characters in this production, so how do you prepare for such an eclectic performance?

I think it’s very beneficial, and I’m not saying this in a joking way, but I have ADHD. So I can very quickly change from one thing to another – change my focus.

Partly it’s easy because it’s my life story, in terms of the Stace character’s changes, and Polly – she’s just a fabulous character. I quite enjoy her, I like playing her more than I do Stace.

Something happens physically in my body, I think to just snap into another persona each time.

It’s just another form of transition, as you say transitions are everywhere.

You literally watch the actor, who is me, transition from a boy, to a seven year old, to a fourteen year old, you’re watching a person before your very eyes transition.

As you said, this is your fourth autobiographical show, what does it mean to you to be sharing these personal and queer stories with the world?

Growing up there wasn’t any representation of me. I didn’t see myself on stage. I didn’t see myself in books or on TV shows or in movies.

So it feels like it’s a really important addition to what’s out there now in terms of seeing our own lives reflected back to us. That was the biggest response from the Brisbane season, as people went; ‘I finally see my story on stage’.

While I don’t seek to represent anyone else, or tell anyone else’s story, I think there’s enough in it that I think if you are queer or trans, or if you have older parents who ageing, if you have parents with dementia, if you have a dog, if you’ve ever been out at sea with whales – there’s something for everybody with this show.

It’s the opportunity to really to tell a very queer story, a very trans kind of story, in a really life affirming way, because for me a lot of things that I have seen, or did see, it was not life affirming. There was always a tragic ending, and I’m not interested in the tragic ending.

Queer as Flux is playing at the Blue Room from 26 October – 13 November. Tickets are on sale now.

OIP Staff

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Leigh Andrew Hill, the co-owner and editor of OUTinPerth is one of the finalists in this year’s Western Australian of the Year Awards.

The Western Australian of the Year Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding contribution to our State by those born and bred in Western Australia, or those who have chosen to make Western Australia their home.

The much-awaited finalists for the 2021 Western Australian of the Year Awards have been announced, celebrating thirty-seven outstanding Western Australians who have made an extraordinary impact in a range of fields over the past two years.

“I was absolutely shocked to find out I was among this year’s nominees. I still can’t believe it!” Leigh said following the public announcement of his nomination.

“I am so blessed to be able to do my part to serve our local LGBTQIA+ communities, and to receive this news on the same day as my friend and business partner Graeme Watson and I celebrate five years at the helm of OUTinPerth feels extra special.”

“Huge love and thanks to everyone who supports OUTinPerth and All Things Queer on RTRFM – and a very special shout out to Graeme, who always goes above and beyond to keep OUTinPerth thriving. I couldn’t do this without him!” Leigh said.

Leigh has been nominated in the Community Awards alongside, Professor Chan Cheah, Ken Gibbons, Richard Goyder AO, Dr Shannon Simpson and Suzy Urbaniak.

The winners in the fields of community, arts and culture, Aboriginal, business, professions, sport and youth, will be announced at a gala dinner at the Crown Ballroom on 4th June.

Among the outstanding nominees are well known West Australians, alongside many who work quietly behind the scenes making a big difference in their chosen fields.

They include Ken Gibbons from Telethon Community Cinemas who has raised millions of dollars for a wide range of charities, while Brodie McCulloch established the collaborative workspace SpaceCubed, which has led to the success of many new companies and enterprises.

Julia Redwood from Prospero Productions has been behind a string of award-winning documentaries produced in Western Australia.

Alec Coles has helmed the Western Australian Museum since 2010 and guided it through its major transformation over the last five years to the spectacular opening of its new city facility in 2020.

Iain Grandage is the current Artistic Director of the Perth Festival, as well as being a highly acclaimed composer. His colleague, the Festival’s Executive Director Nathan Bennett is also among the nominees.

Actor and author Julia Hales found success were her play You Know We Belong Together alongside being an advocate for people with disabilities.

Karla Hart’s voice will be familiar to listeners of Noongar Radio, the dancer, writer, filmmaker and director, hosts the station’s Drive Time program, she’s among the finalists for the Aboriginal Award.

See all the finalists

Aboriginal Award – Sponsored by Wesfarmers
Jahna Cedar OAM
Professor Juli Coffin
Doris Eaton
Karla Hart
Harvey Murray

Arts & Culture Award – Sponsored by Woodside Energy
Rachel Bin Salleh
Kylie Bracknell
Alec Coles OBE
Iain Grandage
Julia Hales
Leon Pericles

Business Award – Sponsored by APM
Nathan Bennett
Hannah Mann
Brodie McCulloch
Julian Pace
Julia Redwood

Community Award – Sponsored by Alcoa of Australia
Professor Chan Cheah
Ken Gibbons
Richard Goyder AO
Leigh Andrew Hill
Dr Shannon Simpson
Suzy Urbaniak

Professions Award – Sponsored by HBF
Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM
Professor Michael Henderson
Dr Paola Magni
Emeritus Professor Chemmangot Nayar
Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger AC

Sport Award – Sponsored by Channel 7
Hannah Green
Grant Manzoney
Christina Matthews
Murray McHenry
Ben Popham

Youth Award – Sponsored by BHP
Rhiannon Clarke
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa
Dr Hayley Passmore
Yarlalu Thomas
Kendall Whyte

You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.

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Five years ago today, OUTinPerth came back to life after a 10-day hiatus, when the news stopped being reported and the website fell silent.

Just over a week earlier the OUTinPerth team were hard at work preparing the magazine’s June edition, and updating the website and social media channels, when they received an unexpected call.

It was a liquidator. The company that owned the publication had gone under, the liquidator was calling to break the news that we were all immediately unemployed. Soon after representatives from the management arrived and we had just minutes to leave the premises, potentially for the last time.

We did what most people do when you lose your job and discover there’s not even a final pay check – we went to the pub, and ordered several rounds of drinks. Thankfully Bree Maddox paid for them all, cause we were both wondering how we’d pay our rent or mortgages the next week.

That was Tuesday, Wednesday was a blur. Frustratingly there was important news for the community, but we couldn’t share it. On Thursday editor Graeme Watson called then-journalist Leigh Andrew Hill and suggested a crazy idea, “What if we ask if we can buy OUTinPerth?”

We went and asked the liquidator if that was a possibility, On Monday they got back to us and told us there had been quite a few publishers interested in the magazine. If we were interested in putting in a bid, it needed to be submitted by 5pm Tuesday, it had to be a five figure bid, and you had to be able to transfer the cash by the following day.

As we were wondering how to pay the rent and our bills, it’s clear that neither of us had the required $10,000+ bid. We worried about the servers being switched off, years of work disappearing, we worried about someone else taking over the publication we’d put our heart and souls into for many years, and changing it into something else.

We asked friends and family if they had any money to spare, “This could be classed as the rainy day you’ve always worried about?”. In 24 hours we’d raised just enough to put slightly more than the minimum a bid, we sent it in. Then we realised it also had to include GST, and we had to go searching for a little more.

“Tuesday night was unbearable. I couldn’t do anything constructive.” Graeme recalls. “On Wednesday at 11am the liquidator called and broke the news, there had been several bids, but we were the top bid. We now owned OUTinPerth’s intellectual property.”

“Within 7 days we’d gone from the news of sudden unemployment, to owning the magazine and website we had been working for,” Leigh adds.

“It had been a rollercoaster ride. We stopped and looked at each other and thought… what have we done! ”

Our first task of business was create a new company to manage OUTinPerth. It’s really hard to come up with a company name. You want something meaningful, but you also want to be able to buy the web domain for $9.90 if possible. After a lot of brainstorming we named our new entity Speirins Media.

The word ‘spierins’ is Gaelic. It means News or Information. Not so much in the formal journalism sense, more in the chat you have with your neighbour over the fence. We chose a Gaelic word to note our shared Scottish ancestry, and the support of our individual families who encouraged us to embark on this journey.

OUTinPerth was out of action for 10 days in 2016. We only missed one edition of the printed magazine, returning to production in July 2016 and we brought out an edition every four weeks up until its retirement in January 2019.

Since relaunching 3.5 million unique sessions have been logged on the website, and we’ve published thousands of stories about news, culture, arts, the local communities, and a wide array of other topics from a queer, West Australian perspective.

Surviving the last five years has come with a mountain of help from our readers who have contributed to GoFundMe campaigns and signed up to Patreon to provide financial support. Local businesses have chosen us to help promote their services and brought much needed funds to allow us to operate. We’re still going strong today thanks to your generous support and donations. We can’t thank you enough.

Along the way, we’ve broken some major news stories that have gone on to be covered by the mainstream media both in Australia and internationally. We’ve covered Australia’s historic fight for marriage equality, and provided much needed balance to national discourse surrounding transgender rights, which is too often led by conservative publications who willfully ignore medical experts and the lived experience of trans and gender diverse Australians.

We made the transformation to being digital only in the beginning of 2019. At the time our cloud-based, digital nomad, work-from-home model seemed unusual to many people. Twelve months later as the world went into lockdown, everyone was asking us for tips!

Over the last five years we’ve won awards for our reporting, spoken at major events, lectured at universities, and been called on to provide comment on important issues to the LGBTQIA+ communities on radio and television.

Our greatest reward, however, has been the individual stories people have told us, whether through interviews, collaborations, or just readers individual experiences they’ve shared with us about coming out, finding family and community, or finding their voice.

Today we celebrate 5 years. The truth is, in the midst of COVID-19 and post-JobKeeper, it’s never been harder to secure advertising in a queer publication, and while large media companies are signing deals with search engines and social media companies, small independent media companies are still doing it tough.

Today Speirins Media is five, and next year OUTinPerth will mark its 20th anniversary of serving LGBTQIA+ communities in Perth, WA and across Australia. Onwards we go!

You can support our work by subscribing to our Patreon
or contributing to our GoFundMe campaign.

The post Speirins Media celebrates 5 years of operating OUTinPerth appeared first on OUTinPerth.

We’re going to be doing a live chat session on our Instagram account on Tuesday nights from 6:00pm Western Australian time.

OUTinPerth editors Leigh Andrew Hill and Graeme Watson will be logging on from their respective social isolating locations to discuss recent news, random trivia, community events and spark some conversation starters.

Join us to catch up, tell us how you’re going in COVID lockdown, and share with us what you’ve been doing over the last few weeks.  It’s a chance to see how everyone’s going, we’re calling it Check-In Tuesday.

Head to our Instagram account to join in the conversation at 6:00pm.

The post We're going live! Join us on Instagram for 'Check-In Tuesday' appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Tune in to All Things Queer on RTRFM 92.1 at 11am this morning for the latest LGBTIQ+ news.

On today’s program Harriet Kenny and Elle Cee will be joining in the studio by Veronica Jean Jones.

Plus Leigh Andrew Hill chats to Bears Perth about the Mr Bear Perth competition at Connections Nightclub this weekend.

Alyce Schotte from Tranfolk WA will be on to chat about Trans Day of Visibility and the team will dive into disco territory with the sounds of the legendary Sylvester.

If you can’t listen to the show live, you can re-stream it via their website.

All Things Queer 11am – 12pm every Wednesday on RTRFM 92.1 

OUTinPerth staff volunteer at RTRFM 92.1 to assist in creating the program.

The post Tune in to 'All Things Queer' on RTRFM for the latest local news appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Blanc de Blanc | The Pear Tree | til Mar 2nd | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

After a few years abroad, Blanc de Blanc returns to Perth to titillate audiences once again with their fabulously raucous celebration of everyone’s favourite effervescent delight – champagne.

Not much as changed since the show burst all over the Regal Theatre in 2016, but much like the age-old recipe of the show’s raison d’être – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The 1920s-inspired set feels right at home in Blanc de Blanc‘s exclusive Pear Tree venue. At first I was concerned that the performance would lose its grandiose essence after downsizing from a full-sized theatre, but as the talent took to the stage my concerns were washed away like my anxiety after a few glasses of sparkling.

The intimacy afforded by the smaller speigeltent allowed the whole audience to be in on the fun as host Monsieur Romeo and the gang teased and tantalised the crowd with their antics, and even the back row were up close and personal to enjoy the cast’s talents in full-flight.

Monsieur Romeo serves as the audiences guide for the evening, making sure each syllable that leaves his lips was dripping with a sexual charisma in a singular way that only a French accent can.

Romeo is flanked by newcomer Jarrod who balances Romeo’s snooty, lascivious Dracula perfectly as a horny, unrefined Igor – bringing a lightness to the show that would be sorely missed without him.

The show is clearly defined in two parts, before and after the interval. Earlier in the evening, the cast of incredibly talented performers bring their most elegant pieces to the stage – opening with the wonderful ensemble Cigarette Dance to get the audience’s head spinning, moving on to Milena Straczynski’s elegant and captivating aerial performance – a nod to the opulent evenings that usually accompany a glass of bubbles.

After the interval, Blanc takes audiences to a new place. A place where party guests have said yes to more glasses of plonk than they had originally planned, and rules and inhibitions are cast to the wind. The performances become more debaucherous, more ludicrous and even more nude.

J’Aimime had the audiences popping off with her hilarious (and impressive) bubble performance, Jess Mews fingered the crowd (take that as you will) as she worked her magic with hoops to the erratic sounds of SOPHIE, and three of the cast performed a physical ode to butts which was as silly as it was hypnotic.

Blanc De Blanc brings the sophistication (and drunken aftermath) of champagne to Fringe World in a show that sets out with a clear theme, adds incredible talent from across the world and corks it all ready to pop all over WA audiences – and I can assure you it’s just as good the second time around.

In 2016 I reviewed the show for the first time, and my final paragraph still rings true of the show three years later;

“Blanc de Blanc is an elegant, debaucherous and entirely enthralling ode to champagne. The whole performance is a beautifully choreographed imagining of glamorous soiree that descends into reckless abandon. The performers, infallible. The vibe, euphoric. A simple concept, exquisitely executed.”

Blanc de Blanc will be at The Pear Tree until Saturday 2nd March (ex. Mondays). Tickets and more information available from fringeworld.com.au

Leigh Andrew Hill

Image:- Pamela Raith

The post Review | Blanc de Blanc tastes just as good the second time around appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Two years ago this week it looked like OUTinPerth would have to close its doors.

The company that owned the magazine suddenly went out of business and within half an hour we went from writing stories about marriage equality and transgender rights, plus local arts and culture coverage, to packing up our belongings and wondering how we would each pay the rent.

It’s a Wednesday afternoon we’ll never forget.

On Thursday, something happened which posed an interesting question. Would you do your job if you didn’t get paid for it?

Liberal MP Peter Abetz gave a speech in state parliament on Thursday. During a special session to ratify the appointment of Pat Dodson to the federal parliament, the conservative MP stood and argued that support of marriage equality was not in line with traditional indigenous beliefs.

Many people were outraged by the speech, some politicians walked out, others declared it “inappropriate” to be delivered during the ratification process. We couldn’t share this story with you. We were unemployed journalists, we had no platform to share this news. It was frustrating.

The desire we have to share the news, conversations and debates with you is powerful, it’s not our job because we get paid, it’s our job because it’s what we’re here to do.

On Friday morning I called Leigh Andrew Hill and suggested a bold plan, we’d put in an offer to buy the magazine from the liquidator, then launch a crowdsource funding campaign to resurrect the magazine.

Before we could reach out to the local community for support, our first challenge was to secure the ownership of the magazine’s intellectual property from the liquidator. We had to find a lot of cash in just twenty four hours. Generously, family and friends lent us the seed investment money we needed.

We had until the close of business on Monday to formally submit an offer for the magazine. We put in our bid, and waited. Monday night was a sleepless night, too worried to watch TV or read a book, a night of fidgeting and restlessness.

On Tuesday morning we got the call confirming we now owned OUTinPerth. It had been a whirlwind journey over seven days. Our immediate response was to ask ourselves “What have we done?”

We launched our GoFundMe campaign and immediately generous and supportive people came to help us. We raised enough money to put out the next edition of the magazine, only missing one scheduled issue.

We had to start from scratch, we were able to buy the magazine but none of the equipment needed to create it. No computers, camera or software.

Over the last two years we’ve embraced new technologies that allow us to be more mobile and collaborative.

We’re often the journalists in the media scrum with only an iPhone to capture the moment, but it doesn’t stop us from delivering photos and video and putting questions to politicians.

We have established our office in Northbridge, the creatively named ‘The OUTpost’ has become a meeting space for local community groups and allowed lots of people to become involved in the editorial direction and content creation of the magazine.

Over the last two years we’re proud of some of the big stories we’ve delivered. Stories from OUTinPerth have been picked up by national and international mainstream media. Questions have been asked if federal parliament and we’ve documented one of the most significant changes to Australian society in a generation – the achievement of marriage equality.

We celebrated OUTinPerth’s 15th birthday in 2017, and in March we published the 200th edition of the magazine. Most importantly, our audience has grown dramatically, in 2017 our online audience grew by 75%, while our print magazine has the largest single city circulation of an LGBTI title in Australia.

Now when we ask “What have we done?” There are many achievements we can be proud of.

We still have lots of sleepless nights though. Our GoFundMe campaign only raised just under half of the money needed to ensure the magazine’s long term viability.

Most months we’re still counting every dollar to make sure we have enough to send the next issue of the magazine to the printers and pay all the bills.

Leigh and I both have a moderate salary for our work, but it’s less than you’d get for working in a shop, and there are few days off in independent journalism.

We’re currently working on the resurrection of Perth’s other LGBTI title – QPages. We’ll have the 2019 edition ready for release during the Pride Festival. Alongside that we’re also developing some other projects that will help support OUTinPerth’s future.

Today we’re closing our GoFundMe campaign. We’re incredibly thankful to every single one of the 177 people who helped us out. You are all amazing!

As we move forward you can still contribute to helping our community have an independent voice, our Patreon account is a pathway for supporters to make a monthly contribution to the magazine’s publication.

Like the aging showgirl in Follies defiantly shouts;

“I’ve run the gamut.
A to Z.
Three cheers and dammit,
C’est la vie.
I got through all of last year
And I’m here.
Lord knows, at least I was there,
And I’m here!
Look who’s here!
I’m still here!”

The post OUTinPerth two years on: We’re still here! appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Out for Australia has announced the nominees for their 2018 Australian Role Model Awards, and OUTinPerth’s Leigh Andrew Hill is among the finalists.

The awards recognise inspiring people who have each had a positive impact in the LGBTIQ community, Leigh has been nominated in the Young Professionals category.

Leigh first joined OUTinPerth as part of a University internship program. The internship led to full time employment, until the parent company that owned the magazine was forced to shut down in 2016.

As a result of his own personal journey as an LGBTI+ person and through his tertiary studies, internship and full-time employment, Leigh discovered his passion and capability for covering queer politics, arts and culture, history, and local community groups.

It was this passion that led to Leigh and colleague Graeme Watson deciding to form Speirins Media Pty Ltd, buy the rights to OUTinPerth and ultimately continue to publish the magazine. Leigh is currently Creative/Content Editor for the magazine and website.

“When I heard I had been nominated, I can’t say I ever expected to make the shortlist. Seeing my name alongside these incredible LGBTIQ+ Australians has left me flabbergasted.” Leigh said.

“In 2015 when I took the internship with OUTinPerth under its former owners, I would have laughed if you told me in two years time I would be running a business and co-editing a publication alongside my mentor, but I am inspired every day by the passionate and hard-working members of WA’s queer community.

“From health sector professionals to activists to drag queens, Western Australia has a vibrant, diverse and brilliant community that I am so honoured to be able to provide a platform for.”

Leigh said he also wanted to acknowledge business partner Graeme Watson’s stalwart dedication to WA’s LGBTIQ+ community, describing Graeme as someone who challenges and inspires him to think critically, creatively and with compassion.

Leigh joins two other nominees in the Young Professional category. Kochava Lilit is nominated for their work with the group Ygender.

Kochava leads a team of trans/gender diverse young people in advocating for trans rights and creating autonomous community spaces. They run regular social events that give trans young people a space to connect with each other, have a place where their gender will always be respected, and ask each other for advice.

They also run workshops and training sessions at unis, schools, workplaces, youth services, medical services and more on gender diversity, trans rights, and inclusive practices.

The third nominee in the Young Professional category is Nicholas Steepe from Dubbo in New South Wales. Nic is one of the key individuals responsible for the Central West Pride March, and is heavily involved in the Central West Rainbow Alliance, promoting inclusion and support for regional LGBTIQA+ individuals.

He also sits on The Pinnacle Foundation Management Committee as the Scholar Advocate, an organisation that provides scholarships and mentorships to disadvantaged and/or marginalised LGBTIQA+ people.

The other awards are for Established Professionals which includes nominations for Rebecca Johnson the co-founder of IndigiLez Women’s Leadership & Support Group, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lesbian, Same Attracted and Bisexual women.

Also nominated is Brendan Moore, the inaugural Chair of Yarra Valley Water’s LGBTIQ+ Diversity Group, a position he pursued because of his time working in regional communities as part of the construction and engineering industries where LGBTIQ+ openness, acceptance and inclusion aren’t common.

The third nominee in the Established Professionals category is Kimberly Olsen, founder and CEO of Trans Employment Program Australia, a program to assist recruitment for trans and gender diverse people. Kimberly also works at Uniting, where she is responsible for adoption of LGBTI specific learning strategies for aged care.

In the student section there are nominations for Cai Langford, a non-binary student who was instrumental in having gender neutral bathrooms installed at Adelaide University.

Aadarsh Prasad a queer person of colour has been recognised for works as a Queer Officer at the University of Sydney, while Issac Roberts is a deaf 21-year-old Brotherboy from Far-North QLD who advocates for transgender rights.

The awards are based on a popular vote, and voting is now open. Head to Out for Australia to cast your vote.

OIP Staff

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Hot Brown Honey | Teatro | til Feb 25th | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Enter The Hive. The Pleasure Garden’s Teatro venue greets it’s buzzing audience with a striking honeycomb in the centre of the stage, ready to introduce its queens.

MC Busty Beats gets the party started, as her booming voice thunders through the crowd and the hive begins to glow. The six stars, including local legend Ofa Fotu, take to the stage with a beautiful fan dance – complete with costume changes – that is instantly reminiscent of Fringe favourite Briefs, the ladies’ sister show by shared producer Linda Catalano.

The performance is certainly of the caliber of their long-travelling siblings, but these ladies have a style of their own that will ensure Hot Brown Honey are a mainstay at festivals across the world as well.

The women explore feminism, racism, Polynesian heritage and more with unique performances that play to each of their strengths as performers. Local chanteuse Ofa Fotu was an absolute showstopper with her transcendent voice, and maintained her energy even when in the background.

The first solo performance framed the rest of the performance instantly, parodying that girl we all know who makes her annual boozy trip to Bali. Each performance throughout similarly carries a poison sting that evokes as much laughter as it does introspective thought.

Props must also be given to the show’s director and star who had injured her knee, but performed a striking dance number in an incredibly adaptable leaf-costume without missing a beat – as well as featuring in each of the group numbers.

Hot Brown Honey oozes femme, queer power – true anathema to all that is wrong with my news feed and the world around me.

To paraphrase another great woman of history; Oh baby, you’ll have a dependency. You’ll be dying for another taste of their honey.

Hot Brown Honey will be at the Pleasure Gardens until February 25th. For tickets and more info head to fringeworld.com.au

Leigh Andrew Hill

The post Review | Hot Brown Honey is sticky sweet goodness with a potent sting appeared first on OUTinPerth.

Club Swizzle | Ice Cream Factory | til Feb 25th | ★ ★ ★ ★ 

The performers of Fringe World newbie Club Swizzle had big shoes to fill following the success of their sister show La Soiree at festivals past, but it’s clear the same blood runs through the veins of both festival favourites.

Audiences enter the Ice Cream Factory’s warehouse venue to a bustling on-stage bar, where viewers are encouraged to grab a drink and get in the mood. Once the buzz was thrumming, Swizzle band The Unexpected Perks gave the cue and the barstaff get to packing up the stage – revealing that they are among the show’s performers themselves as the bar neatly transforms into a catwalk stage.

Enter Rueben Kaye! The show’s flamboyant ringmaster is right at home on the runway, grabbing the audience’s attention immediately with his incredibly exaggerated lashed-up eye. Like a homosexual Mask-era Jim Carrey*, Kaye is near maniacal as he sweeps the audience throwing gags and successfully maintained the crowd’s bouts of laughter throughout the performance.

The rest of the Swizzle ensemble are a mash-up of experts in different disciplines, much like La Soiree. Comedian Amy G, burlesque star Laurie Hagen, the dapper Dandy Wellington and aerial artist Yammel Rodriguez round out the cast, alongside the acrobatic bartenders and Kaye.

Hagen was an absolute showstopper whenever she took to the bar-stage, kicking the festivities off perfectly with an incredibly executed pseudo-drunk striptease that looked so accidental it could only have been meticulously rehearsed.

Though the show was impressive and entertaining overall, I suspect my expectations were set a little too high having seen La Soiree. Some of the ‘wow’ moments were a little lacking compared to Soiree – but Swizzle makes up for it with its charming host and commitment to the swanky club theme.

My advice would be not to approach Club Swizzle as La Soiree 2.0, but come with an open mind, an empty cup and expect to leave the Ice Cream Factory well and truly swizzled.

Get down to Club Swizzle at The Ice Cream Factory until February 25th. Tickets and more info available from fringeworld.com.au

Leigh Andrew Hill

*It should be noted I made the Kaye/Carrey comparison before I read it in his program bio.

The post Review | Club Swizzle is quintessential Fringe World fun appeared first on OUTinPerth.