Cute Cabaret is Just Duckie

Perhaps it’s a natural progression of the burlesque renaissance that began last decade, but the city is awash in cabaret and neo-vaudeville acts. While so many of them wallow in [Weimar-era stylings] and supposedly have some subversive political message, they often turn out to be flat and boring: A cute way for pseudo-boho kids to feel like they’re doing something cool, without actually taking any sort of risk. Perhaps that’s why [C’est Duckie](http://www.ps122.org/performances/cest_duckie.html), presented by a London-based performance troupe in conjunction with P.S. 122, feels so radical. It’s just a kooky and kinky good time.

The performance could easily have been created for The Box, Simon Hammerstein’s downtown club that features fabulous vaudeville for the chic and snotty, but it retains an air of DIY authenticity by being crammed into the rambling space of the [CSV Cultural Center] in the Lower East Side. It's meant to resemble a Vauxhall club, and the bottles of $25 cava that are offered after being seated at a table with strangers, help blur the boundaries a bit. A waiter brings "Duckie dollars" and a who menu. Then it's time to purchase the table's entertainment for the evening. With naughty-sounding names—"James Bond in Perverted Pussy," "Unsex Me Here," "Miss Kick Does Seven Cocks"—of course, we gravitate to those we think will be more perverted. Unfortunately, that means there ends up being too many repeats of the same bit, since all the other tables are having the same idea.

The four performers—Marisa Carnesky, Joshua Sofaer, Kazuko Hohki and Miss High Leg Kick—begin with a floor show in which they wear tables on their heads draped in gold lamé. Then it's time for the table service. A mix of magic trick, performance art and odd physical tricks, the actual acts are not as crazy as one would imagine. The most popular menu choice may have been "Natcho Snatcho" (pictured), which had Miss High Leg Kick performing a shoulder stand and audience members dipping chips into a bowl balanced between her legs. Perhaps the most out-there skit was enacted by Taylor Mac, the special local guest of the evening, when he jumped on a table, exposed his taped crotch and then proceeded to rip the tape from between his legs, to loud gasps of horror. Nothing like a drag queen to get things going.

Overall, it's a fun and rousing evening, especially for those couples who feel liberated enough to leave the kiddies at home and venture into the Lower East Side for a bit of safe titillation. It'll beat most of the holidays parties that they've been hitting—and may even get their imaginations revved for a little late-night kanoodling.