Review: Jordan Gray - Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Here To Kill Me? (Soho Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s been three years since Jordan Gray came to the attention of a wider audience after an infamous appearance on Channel 4 where she bared all mid-performance. The response was mixed, to say the least. While many were impressed by her talents and guts in an increasingly hostile environment to trans people, of course, others were less thrilled, and she even received death threats over the incident. Not one to be deterred by the hostility, she has turned it into art with the premiere of her brand new show, Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Here To Kill Me? Following up her smash hit show Is It A Bird? (receiving five stars from me in my 2022 review), could this latest show cement Gray’s position as one of the UK’s most exciting rising comics?

Of course, much has changed since Jordan was last on stage with the recent Supreme Court gender ruling and what feels like a sharp rise in transphobia. Jordan addresses this in her new show, with a recap of the last three years with a video comparing some of her personal highlights from her TV appearances with some of the more notable moments from public figures and world leaders regarding trans people. It sets the tone for what is to follow perfectly, with Gray bouncing on to the stage like she has never been away and keeping the audience in the palm of her hands for the next hour.

The first half of Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket… sees Jordan riff on transphobia and how personal it is for her, drawing on these death threats and really diving into what makes a person send one and her own response to it. Her one-liners come thick and fast with some great comparisons and observations making for a riveting and hilarious watch. Though there is a serious message of transphobia in the show, Jordan rarely gets too deep with it, aside from one musical number at the show’s climax, poking fun at the situations while never undermining the severity of it.

This is the first outing of a brand new show, and seemed to me to be more of a work in progress as Jordan tested out material. I say this because the second half of the hour was nowhere near as strong as the first, with material that didn’t always land leading to a slightly chaotic mishmash of sequences. One sequence about Martin Luther King’s name fell flat in comparison to the stronger material that had preceded it, while a bit about the frustration of your partner talking about their dreams felt like low-hanging fruit and material that Jordan is too good to be delivering. 

Though this show proved to be a bit inconsistent, one aspect that was consistent throughout is Jordan herself. A truly exceptional talent through her singing voice, comic ability, stage presence and overall personality, she is a constant joy to watch throughout and has the ability to charm an audience without even saying a word. Musical numbers about getting naked on TV and a surprising twist on ‘Cabaret’ delighted, as did her quickfire wit and improvisations when things didn’t quite go according to plan. It may have been a bit messy at times but it was authentic, and that made it all the more irresistible.

Near the beginning of the show, Jordan sung about wanting this show to be better than the last one. At this stage of the show’s journey, she hasn’t quite managed that yet, but that speaks more to the absolute genius that was her previous show, Is It A Bird? and I’m sure with a bit of tweaking, this will easily be able to match the brilliance of its predecessor. There is quite possibly a five star show in Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket… somewhere but it requires a bit of work to get there. That said, Jordan herself is a five star performer and any chance to see her work her magic on stage should be taken.

Jordan Gray is impossible not to love - I imagine with all of the personality, warmth and talents she has, she could even win over somebody in the middle of writing a death threat - I can think of no higher a compliment - that’s obviously assuming anybody irrational enough to do that has any shred of humanity left in them. Though not all of the material quite managed to kill this time around, this was still an entertaining and enjoyable hour of comedy and music and once again proved what a terrific talent Jordan truly is.

Is That A C*ck In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Here To Kill Me? plays at Soho Theatre until 31st May. 

It then plays at Edinburgh Fringe from 30th July - 24th August.

Tickets from https://www.jordangraycomedy.com/ 

Photos by Paul Gilbey