Only one person on the fringe this year looks unimpressed by Jordan Gray. The comedian's sell-out was met with rave reviews, but the day I saw her show,Is It a Bird? increase. As the performance finally begins, the bucket in the middle of the stage catches the drippings, and the electric keyboard threatens to cut off at any moment. But Gray doesn't stop. "God can't hate me that much," she laughs.
As the title suggests, superheroes are the subject of Gray's Whip Smart her fringe debut. Her central thesis is that bats are "barely Halloween" decorations, not to mention terrifying enough that a cloaked crusader is named after a bat. Religion, Ricky Gervais' love of animals, and culture wars are all touched upon.
The thread that connects everything? Gray's identity as a transgender woman. She explains that that's her other meaning of the title. "Is that a bird?" is the sort of catcall she gets in her hometown of Essex. Her true identity is mostly dug up for comical effect. She jokes that she's a "sexual Swiss girlfriend's army knife" and sings about "a fascinating little mystery of your husband's browsing history."
Incorporating original songs into comedy shows is not a new idea, but Gray is a master at it. After all, she was a musician before she became a comedian (Gray starred in The Voicein 2016). She can improvise on the piano while dancing, contort her face, and at one point squat on a stool with one leg in the air. The cries of "I'm so talented" and "That's a great rhyme" are frankly justified.
(Dylan Woodley)
Other reviews explicitly mention Gray's show twist. For the sake of the remaining two fringe fans who haven't yet been spoiled, I won't do it - I'll say it brought Gray's confidence to its natural conclusion, shocking as much as it was hilarious. But it also has vulnerabilities. In the final moment, Gray crouches in front of the piano, almost whispering the words "If I'm joking, I'd better be in on it," and gets naked. Gentle, warm, and emotional.
A friend told me that her mom went to. Is it a bird? I was skeptical about transgender issues, but for the first time I understood what the community was really going through. would be easy. But it can and will change opinions and lives.
