Soho Theatre Walthamstow is set to host an unmissable run of cabaret royalty this July as the inimitable Justin Vivian Bond and long-time collaborator Kenny Mellman return to the capital as Kiki & Herb with their electrifying, genre-defying show Kiki & Herb are Trying! from 3–5 July.
Having last performed in London in 2007, the long-awaited return of Kiki & Herb marks a major moment in the city’s cultural calendar. The storied cabaret creation of Bond and Mellman, Kiki & Herb are a cult phenomenon: a cocktail-soaked, piano-pounding hurricane of heartbreak, hilarity, and punk cabaret brilliance. For over two decades, this duo has redefined the boundaries of performance art and live music, appearing everywhere from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre to New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall, not to mention unforgettable appearances on the Thames aboard the HMS President.
Kiki & Herb have a long history with Soho Theatre, they performed at Soho Theatre, Dean Street in 2002, the first of many engagements presented and produced with Soho, the shows lead to them becoming bona-fide queer legends in London, attracting a huge devoted following and celebrity adoration. These performances promise an intoxicating blend of biting wit, raw emotion, and musical virtuosity—offering London audiences a rare opportunity to witness two icons of performance art at the height of their powers.
Steve Lock, Head of Comedy, Soho Theatre says: “I first saw Kiki & Herb over 20 years ago, my first opportunity to work on our comedy and cabaret programme at Soho Theatre. They are, without doubt, one of the acts who have helped define, shape and influence everything we want to be at Soho Theatre, putting us on the map for boundary breaking artists. We genuinely couldn’t be more honoured to be hosting them at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, introducing them to another generation who get to see them for the first time.”
Tim Whitehead, Associate Producer, Soho Theatre says: “I was relatively new at Soho Theatre when a VHS video tape of Kiki & Herb live in New York landed on my desk. I’d never seen anything like them (who had)? The level of artistry and sheer talent filled my weird queer heart with joy and I was smitten. I was fortunate to work with Vivian and Kenny on many engagements at Soho in Dean Street to the Sydney Opera House. After all these years it’s a privilege to be back, working with two performers who had an immeasurable impact on my career, I owe them a great debt of gratitude, there is nobody like them.”
Well, they tried. Kiki and Herb were all ready to just wait around for their respective dirt naps, coasting through the end of their lives on their meagre entitlements from the US government, so very thankful to be taken care of and to never have to return to the business called show again. Kiki had returned to her birthplace of Nutley, New Jersey, content to play bingo at the local library while dating the neighbourhood postman. Herb found himself in Tennessee living with a Venezuelan gentleman in the US on a student visa. All seemed fine and the duo made sure to talk on the phone every Sunday during cocktail hour (noon) drinking their Canadian Club and sodas and catching up.
Then it all came crashing down. The government cheques stopped arriving, the Nutley library was shut down, the postman was fired, Herb’s apartment flooded, and his gentleman friend was deported to an undisclosed location. The final indignity? Tariffs made Canadian Club too expensive for them to drink. So, having no other option, they have decided to return to show business and since no one in the ‘US of A’ can now afford to see an act of Kiki and Herb’s calibre, the US’s loss is London’s gain.
Are Kiki and Herb trying to heal the centuries old conflict between the US and the UK? Maybe. Are Kiki and Herb trying to just make it through a whole show at this point? Definitely. You can say a lot of things about them, and a lot of things have been said, but the one truth out there is – Kiki and Herb Are Trying. It will be a “tarrific” time. Lean in.
Kiki & Herb is the creation of Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman. Kiki is a washed-up, boozed-up chanteuse, with a voice that is a mixture of Tom Waits and Ethel Merman with a dash of Judy, whose middle age passed her by some time ago. Herb, her piano-battering, lifelong accompanist provides support both musically and emotionally. As Kiki & Herb, Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman have dazzled audiences around the world for over two decades with their ground-breaking wildly popular cabaret shows. They have played the Soho Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. One of their favorite runs was Kiki and Herb Mount The President presented on the HMS President docked on The Thames. The duo has also appeared at the Bonn Biennale (Germany), On The Boards (Seattle), the Great American Music Hall (San Francisco), and the historic Orpheum Theater (L.A.). Kiki & Herb have performed and toured with The Scissor Sisters and Rufus Wainwright. The duo received an Obie Award for their show Kiki & Herb: Jesus Wept, and earned a Tony Award nomination for their 2007 show Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway. Kiki & Herb have released two albums: Do You Hear What We Hear? featuring Deborah Harry, Isaac Mizrahi, Molly Ringwald, and Rufus Wainwright and Kiki and Herb Will Die For You, a live recording of their 2004 Carnegie Hall show.
Justin Vivian Bond will also perform at Soho Walthamstow, with their full band, in ‘Justin Vivian Bond – Sex with Strangers’ an extraordinarily lyrical tribute to Marianne Faithfull, on the 11th and 12th July.
Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (they, them, their) has appeared on stage (Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Londonʼs West End), screen (Shortbus, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Sunset Stories), television (High Maintenance, Difficult People, The Get Down), nightclub stages (most notably, a decades-long residency at Joeʼs Pub at The Public Theater), and in concert halls worldwide (including Carnegie Hall and The Sydney Opera House). In December 2019 Mx. Bond made their Vienna Staatsoper debut as Orlandoʼs child in the world premiere of Olga Neuwirthʼs Orlando. In 2021 they appeared as the Lounge Singer in Boston Lyric Opera’s streaming opera Desert In, and made several year end “Best of” lists with their shows Only an Octave Apart co-created with counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, Zack Winokur, and Thomas Bartlett, as well as Kiki and Herb Sleigh at BAM with Kenny Mellman.
Mx. Bond’s visual art and installations have been seen in museums and galleries in the United States (Participant, Inc., and The New Museum) and abroad (Vitrine, London). Their memoir, Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels (Feminist Press), won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction. They are the recipient of an Obie, a Bessie, and a Tony nomination, as well as an Ethyl Eichelberger Award, The Peter Reed Foundation Grant, The Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant for Artists, and The Art Matters Grant.
They have self-released several full-length recordings, including Dendrophile and Silver Wells. As one-half of the legendary punk cabaret duo Kiki & Herb, they toured the world and released two CDs: Do You Hear What We Hear? and Kiki and Herb Will Die for You at Carnegie Hall.
They have a master’s degree in live art from Central Saint Martins College in London and have taught performance composition and Live Art Installation at NYU and Bard College. Mx. Bond currently divides their time between residences in New York Cityʼs East Village and the Hudson Valley. Website: justinvivianbond.com
Kenny Mellman is one half (with Justin Vivian Bond) of Kiki and Herb. His show Kenny Mellman Is Grace Jones toured the US, Australia and the UK and his one man musical about gay bashing and homophobia, Say Sea Boy You Sissy Boy? was a commission by Dixon Place. He co-wrote the musical At Least It’s Pink with Michael Patrick King (Sex And The City) and Bridget Everett at ArsNova. He also, with Everett and Neal Medlyn, co-created Our Hit Parade, a downtown NY deconstruction of the pop charts which ran monthly for 4 sold-out years at Joe’s Pub and was listed as a top 10 Cabaret Show in Time Out NY all 4 years.
He was in the cast and composed the music for the NY premiere production of David Rabe’s Good For Otto at The New Group in 2018 which starred Ed Harris and F.Murray Abraham. Mellman was the keyboardist and co-vocalist for the band The Julie Ruin. Fronted by Kathleen Hanna, of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre fame, they released two acclaimed records and toured extensively throughout the world. He is the recipient of an Obie, a Bessie, and a Tony nomination, as well as The Peter Reed Foundation Grant, He is featured on the soundtrack to the hit TV show Bob’s Burgers and is currently musical directing a workshop production of the new musical Dan Fishback Is Alive and Unwell and Living in His Apartment.
