As the last show for the Midsumma Festival 2010, Andy and Adrian provided a joyous performance that advocated the vision of Midsumma: ‘Celebrating Queer Culture’ in the only way they know how: riotously! The show provided the two with an opportunity to talk freely about their lives outside of air time as the ‘funny buggers on brekkie radio’ for Melbourne’s JOY.FM 94.9 dedicated to queer culture, issues and events.

Set within the intimate surrounds of The Butterfly Club, the pair were wonderfully in sync with one another. They exuded a confidence and camaraderie that made me want to call out commentary to fuel their quick wits as they flitted between well rehearsed lines and saucy improvisation. They drew in the audience with an ‘at home’ setting by serving biscuits and throwing out pre-frozen Tena incontinence pads from an esky for those wanting to cool down in the summer-heated small room. This made me feel like less of an audience member and more like someone who was allowed to get to know the two via a dynamic and varied night of songs, games and stories. The Club was sold out with many of the gay community in attendance, particularly male gay couples over thirty who could appreciate – and most likely are already familiar with the duo.

An homage to everything frightfully camp within their lives they covered everything from Andy’s lust for TV personality Bear Grylls, their favourite events of the 90s and the toilet train of Adrian’s incredibly pampered cat… Certainly never a dull moment! One particularly clever song was their ‘Tribute to Single Ladies’ which listed all of the supportive comments they would make to their single girlfriends to boost their confidence and get them out onto the dance floor.

Many performers could learn a great deal from these two, particularly those within the feisty cabaret scene. They have had a great deal of prior training as radio presenters and I would strongly suggest to other performers that they rehearse by interviewing a mock audience in order to loosen up and find how the audience responds rather than assuming. They already had their established brand of humour which thankfully did not veer into cringe-worthy dragqueen-style absurdity and benefited from being themselves and letting their potent love for one another be shared within the ‘family’ setting for a truly fantastic night out.

The night ended with two Judy Garland songs from Rachel Juhasz accompanied by Adrian Portell who, although starting off very quietly for someone in the second row soon warmed up into rapturous ballad ‘The Man that Got Away’ after Andy and Adrian’s song about Adrian coming out of the closet to his last girlfriend. Juhasz will be performing ‘My Judy Journals’ up until the 14th of March and is a must see for Garland fans.

As already mentioned, Andy and Adrian’s performance sincerely benefited from them being themselves, creating a warm bond between the audience and their lust for life. As advice to other performers I leave you with a Judy Garland quote: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”

Andy and Adrian are Radio Husbands
At
The Butterfly Club
Sunday the 7th of February 2010
Season closed

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