Beat talks to Busty Beatz (Kim Bowers) of Hot Brown Honey – a show that got Adelaide Fringe hot and bothered and which is about to do the same here at MICF. “It’s a pretty crazy show,” Beatz says. “We just wanted it to make a work that was different. We looked and there are no brown or black women together on stage; this is something new and different that hasn’t been seen before. We’re making something great.”
Hot Brown Honey is an ensemble of six women. Crystal Stacey, Lisa Fa’alafi, Heru Pinkasova, Juanita Duncan, Hope Haami and Busty Beatz come together both individually and collectively to deflate the power of racist and sexist stereotypes through humour. Arriving as a contemporary burlesque cabaret, the show offers a politically charged, sexy and fun hip hop cabaret loaded with charm and attitude.
So then, how did the collective form? “It started with our cast, but we’re always looking around to see who’s out there,” answers Beatz. “We looked at what made us laugh and went from there, so it’s from our point of view – and it’s not often seen in comedy. We’ve been working on it for a while. There isn’t a platform for black and brown women. So we made one, and people started coming out of the woodwork. There are so many hot brown honeys doing amazing things.
“The cast is women who we’ve worked with before, women we’ve heard about or are friends with, and it’s an opportunity to work with new people doing different things,” Beatz continues. “Our show is so cross-genre. It’s music, hip hop, spoken word, poetry, circus [and] dance.” While the group functions as a unit, each performer’s comedic style and personality inevitably shines through. “Lisa [Fa’alafi] is the director, co-creator and MC. I’m the musical director,” says Beatz. “Everyone stands out. We make everyone do everything, our performers want to be pushed. It’s where we come from. We’re all very political women. Missy Elliott is our total idol; we’re in that same positive space saying exactly what we mean. If people are confronted, then so be it. We came out at the Adelaide Fringe – it was crazy. We never expected what happened there.”
The show sold out in Adelaide and received six five-star reviews two days after opening. Afterwards, reviews of Hot Brown Honey all revolved around themes of power. Beatz confirms that the women come from a fighting standpoint by sheer virtue of who they are. “We are saying we want to be the power. We are the power,” she says. “But we always say that we’re celebrating differences and similarities too. We say to women, ‘You cannot be what you cannot see’. Audiences are waking up. I’ve seen so much homophobia and sexism and fat-phobia in comedy. We’re really talking about our worlds and where they intersect, and we’re inviting audiences to communicate with people they might not have engaged with before. Our backgrounds are so varied. There’s a whole heap of differences, and similarities, too. How do you talk diversity and then make that happen? We ask, ‘Have you guys tried?’”
By Liza Dezfouli
Venue: Northcote Town Hall, 189 High St, Northcote
Dates: April 6 – April 16 (except Mondays, Tuesdays and Sunday 17)
Time: 8pm
Tickets: $25 – $33
