Justin Sider is D!ckless | Season Ended | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Many queer-centred performances during this year Fringe World start with an acknowledgement of country, respecting the First Nations people of the Whadjuk region, along with informing people they are in a momentarily LGBTQIA+ safe space; with a trigger warning.
This intro is refreshing, allowing the audience to stay or leave at the start of shows, acknowledging and celebrating our differences in our world.
Justin Sider’s penis is missing, this is a journey to find it. A performance exploring gender, and gender as performance. A one-man drag show by drag king Justin Sider; an archetype of a chiseled man, and a hunk, a hunk of burning love.
Justin takes us on a camp musical lap dancing journey in search of his wang, woody, wiener, dingus, dong, schlong, dork, johnson, prick, pecker; the many slang expressions for the usually unmentionable dick.
Justin is your boy, he wakes up one day and it is just not there, his penis is missing. How can Justin compete in the World Annual Lap Dancing Competition without his signature bulge?
Justin performs, singing live on stage with original well-crafted song vocals and rap. Justin’s got a great voice and as a big boy with a bulge; he wants you to be his baby.
Peacocking in glitter teddy boy hair, steel cap boots threaded with red sparkly laces, lush animal print shirt and a suave black velvet suit with masc-4-masc facial hair; to die for.
Through the performance, the songs, rap vocals and storytelling, play with and parodies the cock proud toxic masculinity many of us see, witness and experience every day in a world where patriarchy is always there in the background or in our faces, like a big fat wang.
The journey incorporates, cut and pastes of phone conversations with Justin’s manager, some audience participation and montages of Justin’s adventures and day to day life along with his live singing of original music, hysterically hilarious lyrics and rapping.
There are pop culture and Perth references to Cardi B, Bazil Z, Ken Doll, Harry Styles and Mark McGowan. Mark McG gets the full Justin D, lap dance experience; it’s a hot lap dancing mess.
Justin Sider is D!ckless, reminded me of Dorothy’s journey in the The Wizard of Oz. Like Dorothy, Justin was always home, nothing was ever missing to make him whole, his penis was inside himself all along.
D!ckless is a warm and welcoming performance, covering the personal and the political, without ramming it down our throats. Incorporating absurd humour, slapstick comedy, original songwriting, live singing, rapping and storytelling.
With the COVID restrictions occurring during the scheduled performances, this work deserves to come back, allowing for some refinement, with the energy of a larger audience in the future.
Justin is the man, he is our boy, our homeboy, our playboy, a winner and so is this show.
Justin Sider is D!ckless has ended its run this season. Check out what’s on at Fringe World’s special encore season at fringeworld.com.au
Guy Gomeze is an artist, arts worker, photographer, writer, and occasional curator, they have worked in the arts for 25 years between the east coast and west coast of Australia.
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