Reuben Kaye has been entertaining the audiences as the Master of Ceremonies at Club Swizzle for the last few weeks, but for one night only he’s going to be delivering his solo show.

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The last minute edition to the Fringe World program has been welcomed by fans of the performer who loved him in Club Swizzle and wanted to see a little bit more of his outrageous personality.

As I meet the performer for coffee and a respectfully late breakfast, even out of his costumes and make-up he’s captivating. Tall and striking, his bright green eyes are piercing, and the corners of his eyes are filled with the remnants of eye liner from last night’s show.

Kaye said when he got the call asking if he’d join the cast of Club Swizzle, the new show from the team behind the hit La Soiree he didn’t hesitate.

“I was in London working on shows there, toodling along in the London club scene and I got a phone call from producer Brett Haycock asking if I’d like to be part of their return season in Adelaide and possibly this season in Perth, and I’ve always wanted to work with Brett and La Soiree.”

“I used to go to the Spiegeltent in Melbourne when it was a new show, I was graduating from VCA and trying to see the show every night. I was the biggest nerd, I was an obsessive fan.”

As a performer Kaye said cabaret is definitely the place he belongs. “In cabaret there are no rules, cabaret is what punk would have been if it happened before electric music.”

“Cabaret is a blur, there is a blur about the genres, there is a bur about where the art has to take place, and who gets to do it.”

Kaye said he’s a big fan of discovering the hidden talents of audience members during a show. “There’s something very empowering about getting Wendy a receptionist, from the audience…and suddenly she’s a poll dancing diva.”

“Sometimes its the most timid people who release this joy, it’s my favourite part of the show.” Kaye said, describing the art of picking someone from the audience as a special skill.

The performer said he’s a “pretty cruel comedian” and “a little bit mean” but bringing someone on stage is a celebration of that individual.

“Normally in the show I pick very straight looking men. I kind of created Reuben’s character, ages ago – maybe six years ago, with the small seed of a gay man who treats straight men the way straight men treat women.

“Not necessarily predatory, but always with an air of superiority. So straight men aren’t terrified, they just feel a little vulnerable.” Kaye said.

Growing up as a gay teenager in Australia Kaye said he felt like he always had to look over his shoulder.

“I always felt really angry that I had to grow up with an eye over my shoulder, in Australia as a gay kid in the ’90s and 2000’s. Even now I would never kiss my partner without checking my environment, and that is fucked, I hate that.

“It feeds so much into my own feeling of self worth, and how I feel the world is, the world is still a dangerous place, an obstacle course to navigate. So in a small way that tinges my work.”

Finding his home in the world of cabaret has been quite a journey for Kaye, he described himself as a ‘the black sheep’ during his time at the Victorian College of the Arts.

“I came from an Eastern European family, Russian dad, German mother. My Dad’s father was in the Yiddish theatre, both of them were Second World War refugees… so a very Jewish, Eastern European family. My Mum was a ballet dancer and a filmmaker, my Dad was a painter, so I came from a very artsy-fartsy family.”

“I think my mother was intent on raising homosexuals, our first movies was the Marx Brother’s A Night at the Opera, anything with Danny Kaye in it, West Side Story and Cabaret. Those were my fairy stories.”

Kaye studied musical theatre because he wanted to sing and dance, and during his course they did a module of cabaret, which is where the journey began.

“When everyone else was doing their audition song book for cabaret I was doing a piece about how I’d killed the family cat, this weird twisted thing.” His lecturers gave him the advice to “keep on following it.”

He moved to London where he joined the cast of Evita, and after a stint in the West End, headed out on a national tour.

“I was so beaten down by the regimented repetition of musical theatre.” Kaye said, noting that he has great admiration for performers who can sign up for a long run on a big production.

“I need it to be different every night.” Kaye said of the revelation that cabaret is the place he belongs. He soon began performing regular spots as the outrageous Reuben Kaye.

He shares a photo of his first outing, which is a far cry from the Glamazon that currently struts the stage, it could be described as “Emo Scissorhands”.

“It’s Robert Smith meets Jeanie Little” Kaye declares. “It took a while to evolve into what you see now.”

Club Swizzle has been a huge success in Perth and they’ve just announced the season has been extended for an extra week. Reuben Kaye will also be doing his solo show – for just one night.

Kaye said his solo was the story of his journey. “I can’t stand that cliche of a wounded homosexual. ‘Life has beat me down and now I wear my make-up as a mask, I’m the sad clown.'” he feigns.

“Fuck that – if you want to be a clown, be a fucking clown, and I’m definitely a clown. I’m here to celebrate my life and I’m not sad.”

“The show is about me growing up in an Eastern European artsy family in sports obsessed Anglo-Australia.

“It’s about me being the nanciest kid in school, and it’s specially about my relationship with one boy who was really violent and beat the shit out of me because I was a faggot, but at the same time all of our encounters were weirdly sexualised.

“It’s about how you bind together within yourself masculinity and femininity and where you get your strength from.” Kaye said, before adding, “But it couched in a fast-paced hour of jokes, the band is sizzling, the songs are everything from Iggy Azaleia to Liza Minnelli, to ZZ Top to Men at Work.”

The fabulous Reuben Kaye can be seen in Club Swizzle until 4th March and his solo show will be on for one night only on Thursday 22nd February. 

Graeme Watson