Unequivocally, there is no one like Reuben Kaye. He doesn’t fit into a box, nor would he ever want to go in one, based on his hour, ‘Live and Intimidating’. The title is only somewhat fitting — yes, the show is live, and yes, Kaye might seem intimidating when we first meet him as he greets us. Already tall sans heels, Kaye towers over everyone else, dressed in all-black sophisticated glam, made up better than any of the women in the room (sorry ladies).

Even still, Kaye immediately creates a warm environment, letting us into his life and his controversial rise to fame through a viral Channel 4 segment of him in drag talking to primary school kids. He first mentions how much love the video got before jumping into the hypocritical hate he (and all queer people) faced once the video found its way to a conservative American mommy blog, where culture goes to die. 

But the show as a whole is a celebration of queerness, a celebration of being different, joking through generations of trauma, which Kaye relates back to in the final moments of the show. He discusses his Jewish grandmother, who ended up in Australia after surviving Auschwitz not once, but twice. But all of these emotional pinnacles are made stronger by Kaye’s natural sense of humor.

His ability to take any moment — whether tragic, scary or surprising — and turn it into joke fodder is unrivaled. Beyond that, Kaye sings with passion and technique so good, the entire room tunes in with goosebumps when he commands the stage. From the songs, both funny and poignant, to his storytelling, Kaye’s act expands beyond his variety show into a heartfelt hour of magic.