Miss Glory Pearl is the naked stand-up and she doesn’t mess about. Before a single word has been spoken she’s starkers onstage and the show begins: part burlesque, part stand-up, part radical feminist praxis,
Laying it all bare, Miss Glory Pearl is bold and unapologetic
The show essentially takes the form of a reverse strip-tease. Miss Glory Pearl, a renowned burlesque performer begins her set in the nude and at points in the show asks for the audience’s input in deciding which underwear to dress her in. It’s an entertaining idea that makes for much hilarity as the audience compare the varying designs and frugality of say the bloomers worn by a Victorian lady as opposed to the thong worn by a Las Vegas stripper (minimum one-inch thick rear string as licensed by the State of Nevada).
What is really intriguing about the show is that after a minute’s talking and once we’ve had the obvious pointed out to us - “these are my breasts, this is my arse and this is my foof” - Miss Glory Pearl’s nudity ceases to seem anything out of the ordinary. Her performance style is naturalistic, relaxed and utterly without awkwardness, giving her state of nakedness the same characteristics. Her onstage nakedness, neither sexual nor shy, is a stark act of power over her own body and the way it is seen that sticks two fingers up to the patriarchy she is denigrating.
Unfortunately the show’s hybrid nature means that it it slightly fails both the forms it is drawing on. The burlesque sections, though kept deliberately short, feel a little lack lustre and it would have been enjoyable to see slightly more of this. The stand-up itself, though engaging, is not particularly funny. At points it is too densely written and quickly delivered so that jokes have been and gone before the audience realise they were there; at others points the set feels a bit too aerated and lacking in substance. That said, Miss Glory Pearl’s idea for a new Channel 4 gameshow titled ‘Nip and tuck, don’t give a fuck’ is outrageous and will make you feel guilty for laughing.
Laying it all bare, Miss Glory Pearl is bold and unapologetic as she raises some important points that anyone who has ever shopped for a bra will relate to, and anyone who hasn’t should have to hear.
