It’s not everyday that you find yourself sitting around with a group of friends gabbing when you come in on a conversation midstream to hear a woman you know say, “So I said to Madonna, ‘You gotta get out!’” True story. Apparently Madonna had sublet a room in Mimi’s apartment back in the early days when they were both struggling dancers, and Madonna had this thing for wandering around the place naked after she showered. Mimi asked her to knock it off while her mother, who was freaked enough about her daughter living on the mean streets of New York, was in town. Well, Madonna still let it hang loose — hairy pits and all — so Mimi decided to give her the old heave-ho (so to speak).
It was a moment of jaded, insane name-dropping that could have come directly from Kiki & Herb, whose brilliant, terrifying, hilarious new Christmas show we had just seen at the Fez. I always enjoy bringing people to see Kiki & Herb for the first time, and I hope that you, friend, are also someday able to experience the jaw-dropping display of blasphemy, psychosis, and musical acuity that makes them so special. Read the clips on the website to get a better idea of what their act is like, but suffice to say I think you’d be hard-pressed to find another cabaret/drag act that mixes Radiohead, Sarah Vaughn, Britney Spears, Belle & Sebastian, Christmas Classics, Kate Bush, and Styx into one show. This time around, they even did a song that Stephen Merritt wrote just for them (so Kiki claims — you can never know for sure). Oh, such treats!