In a city where queer spaces seem to be disappearing like the proverbial rabbits up the gaping property wizard’s sleeves, Not Suitable For Work was an experiment in bringing the LGBT community together through performance.
The premise was simple: any act could do whatever they want in five or ten minute slots, and anybody was welcome to participate, in performance or as a spectator.
After some technical teething problems with a projector and keyboard, during which Jonny Woo and The Glory team proved their prowess under pressure (and hostess Trashbag Trish swigged down several pints of lager to calm her nerves), the show was on its feet.
Co-hosted by Lisa Luxx, of subversive youth culture magazine Prowl House, the room filled up quickly with lesbians, gay men, queer beer drinkers and the in-between.
As a scratch performance night, the onus was very much on experimentation and the ability to fuck up if needs be – so when Trish had a cosmic mind blank mid-spoken word verse, she pulled out her poem from her bra, flicked her weave, adjusted her crotch and got back into her flow. She was followed by a lovely young male songwriter singing about a girl – he skedaddled pretty quickly after realising it was a queer night – and new drag queen on the block Miss Giving, with her paean to the beauty of curtains.
The first feature of the night was the awesome Liv Wynter, the rap battle verstress who takes down misogyny and exposes it for straight male instability across the capital. The Far Right Express, a band composed of ‘Nigel Farage’ and his UKIP-colour clad backing singers, followed, offering satirical numbers on the topics of immigration blaming in Britain. Pure, unexpected class.
The second feature of the night was the awesome Travis Alabanza, giving a set ranging from the political to the difficulty of giving a blowjob. Lisa Luxx roused the crowd with her ode to the female orgasm – ‘have you ever met a man who doesn’t know how to cum?’, Ethan Mechare gained giggles with his comic tale of working as a naked cleaner, and Francis Klay was roared back on to the stage for guitar finger-plucking and smooth crooning.
The final act of the night was the stellar and awesome Naommon, a French musician giving us classic cabaret to sing us out into the night, a fitting end to the night’s launch.
• The next NSFW will be held on Friday 19th June.
• www.theglory.co
• The Glory, 281 Kingsland Road, E2 8AS
