A Bonding Experience
Last night I went down to Joe’s Pub on Lafayette Street and caught Justin Bond - Kiki of Kiki and Herb fame - premiere his “talk show” concept at the club. I met Justin a few years ago when I went to see our mutual friend, Parker Posey (my fellow Mississippian who was in the first “Tales of the City” with me) in Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July” at the Signature Theatre on 42nd Street. Parker and Justin and few of the cast members from that revival of Wilson’s touching play went to some seedy bar on Ninth Avenue and drank away a few hours. It’s a nice, hazy memory. Anyway, Justin opened the show last night with a rousing number called “Weimar New York,” which summed up brilliantly this moment in time in this still most timeless of cities. His later numbers included a great cover version of the internet hit, “God Hates Fags,” which had all of us singing along and waving our arms in unison. (I even caught myself humming the song on my way home later. Talk about ironic dissonance.) He closed the show with a rocking “The River” that brought down the house. Justin - out of his Kiki mode - is a Lotte Lenya with a little Tallulah thrown in. Add more than a smidgen of Tom Waites and you begin to understand the heady conconction that goes into his voice and stage personna. “He was on fire tonight,” as one of his talk show guests, Michael Musto, told me afterwards. Michael, as usual, was hilarious and topical and subversively smart. At one point, instead of reading from his own new book, he pulled out an old collection of Suzanne Somers poems, titled “Touch Me,” and read a few selections. Every poem was about how Somers was really a little girl who wanted to be touched. Aren’t we all?
Justin’s other guests were Jane Adams - the obtusely attractive actress who won a Tony Award a few years ago for “An Inspector Calls” and most recently was Jackie Earle Haley’s blind date in the film “Little Children” - and the adorably sexy Jay Brannan, the actor/singer from “Shortbus.” He sang a lovely ballad called “Half Boyfriend” that you can hear if you sign onto his myspace page. Jay’s YouTube page got thousands and thousands of hits. On it, he’s sitting on the pot and singing “Soda Shop” from “Shortbus.” He’s a doll. I have a crush.
Next Monday night, Justin’s guests will be John Cameron Mitchell, Debbie Harry, and Daniela Sea (of “The L Word”). I’ll be back. It’s only $15 dollars and a great night in the city.
