Justin Bond is already a cabaret hero. His alter-ego Kiki is the tragic diva who fronts Kiki and Herb, the cult New York duo whose following grew so large that last year they gave their 'Farewell Performance' to a packed Carnegie Hall.
Now he's on stage as his normal, transvestite self, elegant in jeans and sari. His theme is life on the fringes, its glory and tragedy. He declares that 'glamour is resistance' and references the survivors and victims of the extreme lifestyle, including Marianne Faithfull and Andy Warhol's superstar Edie Sedgwick.
He brings in video extracts and anecdotes but the real quality is in the music. Pianist Simon Deakin and flautist Mikey Kirkpatrick unleash hurricanes of jazz in covers of Joy Division's Heart And Soul and Opal Foxx's Clean White Bed. Bond's smooth, polluted baritone floats on top.
As a raconteur, Bond seems addled but that doesn't worry him. At one point, stumped for a lyric, he gets to the nub: 'If I hadn't taken drugs, I'd remember these lyrics, but I wouldn't be singing them here.'
True, but he's still too relaxed a performer for this timeslot. At 11pm, with a drink and a mind to let the music flow over you, this would be wonderful. At 7.30pm, in an auditorium, the show can sag.
Until Jul 2, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street WC1, Mon to Sat 7.30pm, £15, £12.50 concs. Tel: 0870 429 6883. Tube: Tottenham Court Road
Justin Bond
