Jodie Mitchell review: Becoming John Travulva is special — an hour is not enough

Image: Rachel Sherlock

The first time I saw Jodie perform as John Travulva was during Sex Sex Men Men, a show by drag king collective Pecs. They delivered an insightful and detailed lecture about queer history in Europe and the patriarchy (though the finer points elude me, I’m afraid — it was 2019), all while another king gave them a nice long blowjob.

This whole show was a big deal for me; I’d seen drag kings before, but never like this — not where all the attention was on them. It was thoughtful and tender. It was varied and playful and unbelievably hot. It provided space to look at masculinity and sexuality in a way that not really anyone else was doing.

This was more than four years ago now, and I’ve seen them in the intervening time, but as soon as Jodie walked on stage as John Travulva, flexing their muscles to AC/DC under pulsating lights, I was like, “ahhh, I’m home”.

It’s glorious to see Jodie performing to such a rapturous and packed out room. John Travulva is almost as much of a real, tangible character as Jodie themself — you can tell that they just know him so profoundly, in all his Glaswegian, feminist glory.

Becoming John Travulva centres around one almost unfathomable day last Christmas-time when they did two gigs: one as Jodie and one as John dressed as Santa. They talk about the attitudes people have to non cis male comedians and their discussion with a man after this first gig about how women comedians make him feel violent. I can’t imagine how jarring it must be to go from an environment such as this to performing as drag king Santa, let alone what happens when they arrive home (no spoilers, it’s a doozy).

There is plenty more in between the tale of this night, about gender euphoria, people with the wrong language but the right intentions and a couple of surreal tangents about a menstrual hawk and the official trans masculine coming out ceremony. The hour flies by; it’s really not enough.

Last year, I took up drag kinging myself (albeit casually), and chatting after Jodie’s show, discovered that I was sitting next to another drag king. Jodie has comedy talent that exceeds the boundaries of gender or sexuality, and it’s a show that can be relished by anyone with any taste at all; however, it does feel special that a performer can create a space for queers to enjoy like this just by being themself. And a macho, but ultimately respectful, Glaswegian man.

Jodie Mitchell: Becoming John Travulva is at the Pleasance Courtyard (Below), at 9:50pm, until August 27th. Tickets here.