Review: Keep It Klassy

Subvert the patriarchy but make it sexy. This sounds like a glib slogan but it’s the artistic high-wire act that Lady Lucerne performs with Keep It Klassy. Lucerne is one of the most innovative and daring performers on the New Orleans circuit, and specialises in genre-defying acts that loosely fall into neo-burlesque. Maybe you’ve seen her at Dirty Dime Peep Show emerging onto the stage as a gyrating foetus to Destiny’s Child’s ‘Survivor’, combining shock and eroticism with an intelligence that lifts it well beyond schlock. Tonight’s show maintains this informed poise, the show’s title coming from a patronising ex who wished that Lucerne might rein in her cultural expression for reasons of supposed propriety. This misplaced opinion forms the basis of a delightfully brutal etiquette parody video, presented as one of the multi-media portions that allow Lucerne to switch between a selection of increasingly impressive costumes and sets for a series of explosive routines. It’s best not to spoil the visual surprises, but multiple climaxes include praying mantises, beheadings and Kylie Minogue. The weight of the patriarchal gaze and commentary is literally and figuratively addressed, with everything from disco to an AOC speech as inspiration. The serial performative conquests on stage are backed up with touching moments of vulnerability, something that contextualises the necessity of the theme and allows for genuine empathy amid the visual and gymnastic flourishes. It’s an unabashed triumph, one that the show’s inspiration would likely hate, but which works out pretty nicely for, well, all of us. You’ve got a chance to share in this celebration tonight, you should really take it. 
Keep It Klassy, 7pm, AllWays Lounge - ticket link