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Reuben Kaye (
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...
Krum; born 22 September 1984) is an Australian singer, writer and comedian. Kaye's career is primarily based in the UK, but he has performed at
comedy festival A comedy festival is a celebration of comedy with many shows, venues, comedy performers (such as stand up comics, sketch troupes, variety performers, etc.) and is held over a specific block of time. Normally, each festival has a diverse range of c ...
s internationally, including in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
, and
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Kaye is recognizable for his signature drag makeup, and often performs with a full backing band. His performances combine
stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
and
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
, and are queer and political. Kaye's 2023
Edinburgh fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
show was the second-highest reviewed show at the festival. He has also appeared on television programmes like '' Spicks and Specks'', '' The Project'', and ''
Celebrity Letters and Numbers ''Celebrity Letters and Numbers'' is an Australian comedy panel game show on SBS which premiered on 2 October 2021. It is a revived version of the game show ''Letters and Numbers'', which aired on SBS from 2010 to 2012, with an altered format w ...
''. Kaye has cited
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs Wayne County & the Electric Chairs were part of the first wave of punk bands from the 1970s. The band was headed by Georgia-born singer Jayne County and became known for their campy, foul-mouthed ballads, glam punk inspired songs and image which ...
,
Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
, and Maryanne Faithful as some of his inspirations.


Personal life

Kaye was born in 1984 to Jewish immigrants, and was raised in the
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
suburb of
Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
. Kaye's father, who was an artist, emigrated from post-war
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, and his mother emigrated from
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
before the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
was built. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but his parents chose to not put him on medication. Kaye came out as
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
at age 14, and faced bullying from his peers at school which left him with a scar on his eyebrow. He studied musical theatre at the
Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...
, and moved to London at age 25, where he became more involved in the cabaret scene.


Career


Live performances

Kaye began performing cabaret while living in Melbourne, but became more involved in the scene after moving to London. Kaye began wearing makeup during his performances in 2011, attributing the choice as a channel for his material, rather than self-expression. His first solo show, ''Success Story'', debuted in 2017, and was performed at the
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and
Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...
festivals. In 2019, Kaye created the self-titled show ''Reuben Kaye'', as well as a late-night variety show ''The Kaye Hole'', and brought both shows to the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. Kaye returned to performances in 2021 after the
COVID pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifi ...
and vocal surgery with his new show ''The Butch is Back'', which he performed through December 2023, including in at the Edinburgh and
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
comedy festivals, and at a nearly month-long residency in London's
Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
. Starting at the Perth fringe in January 2024, Kaye began performing his new show ''Apocalipstick''.


Television appearances

In 2019, Kaye appeared on British television on the Channel 4 show ''Kids React to Drag''. He has also appeared on other UK shows, such as ''The Apprentice: You’re Fired'' in 2023. Kaye has appeared on Australian television as a contestant on ''
Celebrity Letters and Numbers ''Celebrity Letters and Numbers'' is an Australian comedy panel game show on SBS which premiered on 2 October 2021. It is a revived version of the game show ''Letters and Numbers'', which aired on SBS from 2010 to 2012, with an altered format w ...
'', as well as on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
music quiz show ''Spicks and Specks''. In 2023, Kaye appeared on an episode of the Channel 10 news and talk show programme '' The Project'', where he controversially joked about Jesus: "I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more!" The
Australian Communications and Media Authority The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Austr ...
reportedly received over 200 complaints about the incident. He received significant backlash for this both from publications like the
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
, as well as from social media users, some of whom sent him death threats. Subsequent live performances by Kaye were postponed due to protests against him.


Podcasts

Since 2019, Kaye has hosted ''Come to Daddy'', a podcast about the parental upbringing of various comedian guests, including Rosie Jones,
Desiree Burch Desiree Lea Burch (born 26 January 1979) is an American comedian, actress, television presenter, and voice actress. Originally from Diamond Bar, California, Burch has also lived in New York, Streatham, Croydon and Peckham, having moved to Lond ...
, and
Daniel Sloss Daniel Sloss (born 11 September 1990) is a Scottish comedian, actor, and writer. Sloss was the youngest comedian to perform a solo season in London's West End, at the age of 19. He has toured internationally, released a stand-up comedy DVD t ...
. At the 2023 Just for Laughs festival, Kaye hosted the first live version of the podcast with guest
Urzila Carlson Urzila Carlson (born 15 February 1976) is a South African born New Zealand comedian and actress, known for her stand-up performances as well as her appearances on television programs in both New Zealand and Australia. Carlson is a regular panelli ...
. Kaye has also guested on numerous other podcasts, including
Jordan Gray Jordan Redford Gossamer Gray (born 11 January 1989) is an English comedian and singer from Essex. After beginning her career as a singer, she released several independent singles and albums. She appeared on the fifth series of ''The Voice UK' ...
's ''Transplaining'',
Catherine Bohart Catherine Bohart (; born Catherine Murphy 13 August 1988) is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in the United Kingdom. Early life Bohart grew up in Clonsilla, Fingal, part of the greater Dublin area, the daughter of a Catholic de ...
and Helen Bauer's ''Trusty Hogs'', and Abigoliah Schamaun and Joe Wells's ''Neurodivergent Moments''.


Awards

In 2021, Kaye won the Best Cabaret award from both the
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
fringe festivals, and was nominated for the Most Outstanding Show award from the
Melbourne Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...
. In 2022, ''The Butch Is Back'' won three
Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...
for Best Cabaret Artist, Best Production and Best Musical Direction. In 2023, it also was nominated for NextUp's Biggest Award in Comedy, and placed second on the
British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies ...
's list of the highest-reviewed shows of the 2023
Edinburgh fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, Reuben Singers from Melbourne Living people 21st-century Australian comedians 1984 births Comedians from Melbourne Jewish Australian comedians Australian emigrants to England Jewish male comedians Australian cabaret performers Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent Australian people of German-Jewish descent Australian LGBT comedians Victorian College of the Arts alumni Gay Jews People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder