Adelaide Fringe Review: Queer & Present Danger
Words by Your Local Hok
Queer & Present Danger is all about the low, high, and iconic lived experiences throughout her life, prior to and after coming out.
Victorian comedian Anna Piper Scott is queer, present, and transparently a transgender woman.
The show presents itself as a comedy show which is primarily about the lived experiences of transgender people. It shines a light on the lives of trans people in an approachable and accessible manner, whilst being highly funny and entertaining.
Expectedly, much of the jokes draw between the contrast of cisgender and transgender people’s experiences of all things in life, covering aspects such as dating, public bathrooms, going through a second puberty, and sexual encounters.
No topic is off-limits, and Piper Scott is not afraid to drop bombshells left, right, and centre. Many of the jokes and lines which Piper Scott delivers are quite simply outrageous. You’ll be like, ‘oh my god, did she really say that?!’ Other moments will leave you with more questions than answers by the end, but Piper Scott’s happy to check in with y’all afterwards.
Viewing the show as a trans woman myself, it’s absolutely relatable when she shares her various experiences throughout her gender transition. Better yet, she flips these around and turns them in to hilarious snapshots of how she’s dealt with the extravagant encounters she’s had with the haters and those who have been very much curious.
It’s clear when the audience doesn’t exactly get a joke, to which there are limited laughs in the crowd. This is not a result of the joke not necessarily being funny, but rather, it’s because they’re in reference to trans-specific issues. Piper Scott is aware of this during the show and expands on some of the jokes and lines in order to keep the audience both engaged and informed.
I absolutely cackled when she explained the lengths to which trans people have to go through in order to have genitals which align with their gender, to which some audience members were gobsmacked at.
Beware cis men, because Piper Scott has you in the firing line. She rips in to men quite a lot during the show, but take it from someone who’s experienced life on your side of the gender spectrum, and not to heart. Although, she’s not afraid of telling you that she does it better than you.
Piper Scott portrays a range of stereotypes through Queer & Present danger brilliantly, especially when she’s acting as a true-blue Aussie man with one too-many Southern Cross tattoos. In addition, she also breaks down the stereotypes of trans people in a manner which is both stigma-challenging and light-hearted.
Having a prominent stage presence, Piper Scott presents herself and her show with such vigour and confidence, to which she reminds you that she is bold and fabulous consistently.
Turning all of the lows and the highs of her transition towards becoming her true self in to a well put-together comedy show takes the utmost courage, and this in itself deserves your applause.
It will be fascinating to see a future show by Piper Scott which moves beyond trans issues and her lived experiences. I’m intrigued about how different (or similar) her performance will be.
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Show details: Queer & Present Danger