Jonny Woo is one of the most influential, but definitely underground, cabaret stars in the world. He began his career in New York City at the start of the millennium and after a few years moved to London where he’s been hosting bizarre parties, crazy bingo nights and strange performances ever since.
In the UK and NYC your work is well known but less so in Australia, are you looking to conquering new territory?
I have performed in Australia a couple of times, both times on tours that stretched only as far as Sydney and Melbourne. Perth is definitely new territory and I am looking forward to forging new relationships here. I have quite a repertoire of material but a lot is specific to London or the UK so I will be putting together some highlights that hopefully you guys on the West Coast will relate to so I can return again with a full show. I have made some great friends on the East side and hope to meet some new sisters in your town.
I love that you had a show called ‘The Night of a 1000 Jay Aston’s’ – only people over a certain age find that hilarious – where do these crazy ideas come from? I can’t believe you know about Bucks Fizz at all! I would love to tour that in Oz! That show is about 10 years old now and I got the idea Dj’ing in a pub in London. A friend and I were both Buck Fizz fans in our youth and whilst drunk we would chat on about how the band fell apart and how poor Jay Aston was at the centre of the storm. So…when drunk basically. I need to get some new ideas so line them up for my arrival.
Taylor Mac said after she saw you perform she realised that drag could be anything, if drag can be anything why are so many performers the same? Hmmm I often think that when the make-up goes on most drag artists look the same anyway. It’s all that contouring! Taylor comes from the school where we don’t try and feminise the face. It’s more of a canvas for something creative so our looks change. Also the looks are a layer on top of written performance and the material is more important than the look. If you took Taylor’s make up off he would still have an amazing show. I think a lot of drag acts could spend more time creating material rather than looking in the mirror.
What makes a good game of gay bingo? What ‘made’ a good game of Gay Bingo. We bid that ship farewell last October in an end of season finale like no other if you like. It was the best Bingo ever. We did it in a theatre for 1200 people. Playing Bingo was a logistical nightmare but it was amazing. The show, ie numbers and routines are a big part, the entertainment. A good number 69 always helps which basically involves me dragging a hot guy on stage and stripping him and then putting my head down his pants. I pulled a real sexy one on the night. The crowd loved it. He had never been to bingo before so had no idea what was going to happen. Like a lamb to the slaughter. He loved it, of course.
Eurovision 2014 – any early thoughts?
I had high hopes for Austria, Conchita Wurst but I think the song is terrible. Big shame since a bearded boy/girl winning would stick two big fingers up at the Russian government. We are supposedly sending Geri Halliwell. It will be a disaster and funny for two minutes. We need to pull our finger out and field an amazing song. We pay the most and have the strongest talent pool. The UK sees it as a joke. I am looking forward to Australia joining Europe in the near future and seeing who you send. We’ll see….
Johnny Woo is appearing at… The Bakery,
tickets available via nowbaking.com.au
Friday March 7, 2014, Hosted by Voix De La Ville
Graeme Watson
