4 Poofs and a Piano are a British

covers band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

formed in 2000. They were the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

chat show ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'' throughout the show's run from 2001 to 2010.

History

The band performed their first gig at the

Groucho Club The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including thr ...

. Since then, they have also performed at many corporate events, as well as

Pride events A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events som ...

and music festivals – including the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

Perth Festival Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

, the

Brighton Festival Fringe Brighton Fringe is an open-access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world. The programme of 2018 included 1008 events at over 166 v ...

and

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. The band featured on ''

Britain's Got More Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent, ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (c ...

'', and appeared on ''

The Alan Titchmarsh Show ''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" them ...

''. In 2009, the band featured in ''

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson ''The Impressions Show (also known as The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson)'' is a British comedy sketch show which stars impressionists Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson. A second series began broadcasting on 14 November 2010 and end ...

'', in a spoof ''

Ross Kemp on Gangs ''Ross Kemp on Gangs'' is a documentary series that was broadcast on Sky 1 from 21 September 2004, until 6 January 2009. Hosted by actor Ross Kemp, the series follows Kemp and a film crew around the world as they interview members of gangs, lo ...

'' episode, with Culshaw pretending to be

Ross Kemp Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author, and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He is also known for his other roles as Graham Lodsworth in ' ...

and

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

. Matthew Leam managed the band between the years 2003 and 2009 and is seen as the inspiration to their success.

''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''

Ross introduced the band each Friday night with an innuendo-laden joke directed at homosexuality, or the supposed sex lives of gay men. As each guest moved from the

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage. Green rooms typically have ...

to the studio, the band played a cover version of a song related to the guest or their field of work. Their

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

performance was often highly exaggerated in its stereotypical

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 ...

manner. Each week a guest was singled out for special attention by the band who wore specially printed T-shirts featuring the guest's face. This was usually a privilege bestowed upon the guest most deemed a cult figure or gay icon. In an October 2009 episode of the show with Tim Minchin as a guest, he performed a song called "5 Poofs and 2 Pianos", in which he humorously suggested he undergo reverse

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

and join the quartet with his own piano."5 Poofs and 2 Pianos
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Band members

* Stephen De Martin - Vocals * Ian Parkin - Vocals * Duane Gooden - Vocals * David Roper - Piano and vocals

References

External links

Official site
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429114958/http://www.4poofsandapiano.com/ , date=29 April 2009 British pop music groups Friday Night with Jonathan Ross LGBT-themed musical groups Musical quartets