Save Rubyyy Jones

Rubyyy Jones is a lady with a mission to tantalise and sexucate. Last week’s edition of the inimitable ‘Save Rubyyy Jones’ bursting queer cabaret burlesque show, had her audience salivating for more like donkeys lusting after a condom-clad carrot.

With her Canadian charm, queer gangsta sass and a lorry-load of sequins, the mermaid-eyed Jones consummately introduced acts tackling the theme of ‘bad words’.

A stripping Spanish senorita named La Beti took us through a strutting flamenco dance to ‘olé!’, before revealing the letters scribbled across her ass cheeks. Before newcomer to the cabaret scene Kai Kai brought her drag exploration of bullies to the melting pot. With just a felt pen and a backing track, Kai Kai explained how she’d been bullied as a boy at school with the word faggot.

She then asked the audience to write a word, which had affected them, on her arms: cunt, n*gger, mental, were all scrawled onto her flesh. Coming back to the stage, as the crescendo of the ‘Only Human’ song reached, Kai then took tissues out of her bra and wiped away the words. A simple idea, but incredibly affecting – it brought a tear to this hardened old lump of jaded cynicism’s eye.

Lydia L’Scabies finished off the first act with an intriguing spoken/song mime about ‘crabs’, that appeared to contain many layers of tackling misogyny beneath its strange but unique surface humour. Ragina De Lumpi stunned with her en point ballet number about the words that we don’t speak and ‘glamorous goth’ Lou Safire, bared himself by rubbing off the makeup of persona.

The only act who didn’t quite get the fire of our loins smoking was the Virgin Xtravaganzah. The look was great, the idea behind the act brilliant: Virgin Mary reinvented as a 15-year-old Californian valley girl. But maybe there could have been a sharper wit in the parody songs, although the performance was solid.

And between all these glories from the swirling nether nether land of performance art, Our Beloved Miss Jones kept the energy soaring within the room with audience participation games – marshmallows was a particular highlight – and getting people to check their breasts, leading by example, and some lucky guys to unfurl condoms onto bananas with their mouths, before the breathtaking last image of beating depression through black balloons. Rubyyy Jones, we’d come save you any time.

• The next Save Rubyyy Jones will be on 15th May.  

• The RVT, 372 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, SE11 5HY
• Wednesday 18th March.
• www.rubyyyjones.com / www.rvt.org.uk

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