Fresh from her fearless performance on Channel 4’s Friday Night Live, Jordan Gray brings her bold and brilliant self to the London Palladium. Reprising her phenomenally successful Is It a Bird? show, which was universally lauded at the Edinburgh Fringe, this is her first Palladium performance (of surely many) – the first transgender person to headline the venue.
Comedy has a history of unearthing pioneering personalities who break new ground and reframe how audiences think. The likes of Richard Pryor, Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers are names that immediately come to mind – and now there’s another comedian to add to the list. Jordan Gray. Often compared to Russell Brand or Tim Minchin, the truth is, she is beyond compare.
Her show, Is It a Bird, is a brave and exposing (in more ways than one) satire on life as a trans woman. It’s also a fabulously named show for a trans act from Essex with a penchant for superheroes.
Her set is broad in scope from her experiences as a trans woman (or Transylvanian as her grandad puts it) through to not-so-super superheroes, Hitler’s love for dogs, and religious zombie idols. Her style of delivery is captivating, and she gives such energy she is practically effervescent.
An accomplished musician and talented lyricist, her songs are as consummate as her stand-up, a particularly brilliant highlight being her love/hate relationship with gluten, called Celia C (another fabulous title).
In addition to the piano, the only other object on stage is a red phone box, stood prominently upstage centre, a provocative nod to the famous superhero transformation cliché. It takes until the final moments of the show before she uses it, but it’s worth the wait, for what emerges is quintessential Gray.
At one point in the set she jokes about it being a Ted talk, and while funny, there is perhaps a vein of truth in that this is far more than just a comedy act. It’s an empowering and life-affirming hour of exquisite comedy in equal parts raw and polished; it’s generous and glorious.
One prominent review said this show would change lives, and while true, this show, and this performer will do more than that, they’ll save lives.
Reviewed on 28 October 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
This show could save lives.
