Much of Reuben Kaye’s career up until now has consisted of getting audiences to feel comfortable watching other people take their clothes off. The Australian Cabaret star’s talents for singing, dancing and dry, risque humor have made him one of the most in-demand emcees for Burlesque and variety festivals across Europe. These engagements, and his solo shows in London and Berlin, have earned him a reputation as an arresting, flamboyant performer with a knack for dry humor, sequined outfits and finding beauty in tragedy – and vice-versa.
You’d think, given his unique experience commanding crowds, and given he first performed at the MICF 10 years ago, he’d feel prepared heading into his show Plugged. But Kaye says the differences between comedy and cabaret audiences will keep him on his toes.
“I think audiences in Melbourne, especially the comedy festival audience, is even more discerning, even more focused and with even higher standards, because they’re very experienced in comedy.
“And I have a late-night timeslot, so the audience will probably be thinking, ‘Alright, entertain me now.’ So yes, I think the audience will be a lot more demanding, and that’s a little terrifying. But you know, like sex, it’s better when there’s a little bit of terror.”
Kaye, 31, began his cabaret career in Melbourne, where he studied musical theatre and built a repertoire for his own show.
“I was always the freak in class – I was always the one singing the filthy song, and they’d be there going, “Reuben can’t you just do something from Candide?” But that never interested me,” he recalls.
His career took flight when two producers in Melbourne saw one of his showcases, and he toured around Australia. One night he saw a burlesque show and loved it. What happened when he went back the following evening would change the course of Kaye’s career.
“The MC didn’t show up – there was an accident or something – and my friend who was running the burlesque show said, ‘Reuben, you’d be good at this, put on a tux and come’. So I did, and now I’m here.”
Kaye’s kinky humor and slight self-deprecation stay with him even when he’s not in character, and these qualities have no doubt shaped his upcoming show.
Plugged promises to be an hour-long spectacle in which Kaye delves into his past and his psyche, to find how and when he went from being Reuben Krum – son of a German ballet dancer and a Russian artist – to his current persona as a “purveyor of dry humor and wet dreams”.
Though it’s a structured show with a beginning, middle and end, Kaye says the improvisation that defines his MC work will still feature heavily.
“It’s what I’m best at,” Kaye says. “Thinking on the run is my favorite thing in the world, and if anything, when things happen in the show it’s better if they happen by accident.
“I love looking a million dollars, but no one wants to see someone who looks successful be good at things. You want to see someone who looks a million dollars, but is secretly a hot mess inside – a tall-poppy syndrome sort of thing.”
It’s quite obvious that Kaye’s draw card as an act is that he performs his comedy through burlesque – “I’m the sparkliest thing at the whole festival,” he proclaims.
So what is it about burlesque that Kaye finds so useful in creating comedy?
“Sex is funny, I think we all know that deep down. Everyone attaches a lot of importance to sex, so I think talking about it freely helps people see that funny side they don’t often think about.”
By Alexander Darling
Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, CBD
Dates: April 5 – April 17 (except Mondays)
Time: 10pm
Tickets: $28 – $38
