Myra DuBois’s Be Well in London review: Healing Britain… one cutting barb at a time
Myra DuBois is now an empath, and she’s keen to impart her wisdom on the British public. “The thing is, you’re a bit of burden, aren’t you, Billy” she tells an unwitting audience member that has been plucked from the crowd of her Hackney Empire, London tour date.
Having dipped her toe in celebrity stardom after coming to the British public’s attention on Britain’s Got Talent, Myra has decided that fame is no longer her passion. Instead – in the tradition of the likes of Shirley McClean and Gwyneth Paltrow – she has embraced her role as a ‘celebrity that knows best’ and she’s on a one woman mission to heal her Admyras, the name she has given her legion of fans.
The premise of Be Well sees Myra use her psychic abilities to work her way through the crowd, bringing guests on stage to work through their problems. (When she gives them a moment to speak, of course! This is Myra’s spotlight.) “Shame!” she points to Ashley on stage, who is despairing that his jeans no longer fit, as Myra works her way around and diagnoses successive audience issues. “Incontinence!” she declares to Becks whose ailment is that she’s in desperate need for a wee.
“Be Well is Myra’s biggest tour yet, with her at her sharpest and most devilishly acerbic”
The result is a maelstrom of spontaneity that throws us from one belly laugh to the next, barely having time to recover before Myra delivers the next jolt of comedy. During one unplanned section of the show, her cocktail falls off the cabinet, and water spills on the stage floor. Cue a mop being handed to her from an assistant in the wings and Billy is summoned to mop the floor – lest people think she is endorsing Vileda as a brand, of course.
“Have you had a fall at work…” ponders Myra at the wet floor, before she takes a tumble and Billy’s husband, also named Billy, is called on stage to help the star to her feet. The show must go on! This is where Myra – aka character comedian Gareth Joyner – excels and why he’s become one of the drag world’s biggest draws.
Frank Lavender – Joyner’s other creation – provides the warm-up slot, and is part of Myra’s broader backstory, having married her sister Rose. Think problematic uncle trying to fit into a progressive world and navigate a millennial mindset and you’re halfway there with comedy-crooner Frank. Be Well dives into Myra’s past highlighting that she is more than just a wig and heels with some sharp jokes, but a fully formed character with a backstory, giving Joyner plenty of history to mine for gags.
Regular visitors to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern on Sunday afternoons have championed Myra for years, flocking to the revered venue en masse. Tipping a wig to the comedy greats that have come before – from ‘Allo ‘Allo! to Hyacinth Bucket via Victoria Wood and Julie Walters – Myra is classic British drag with a deft modern edge that places her at the upper echelons of UK queer comedy.
Be Well is Myra’s biggest tour yet, with her at her sharpest and most devilishly acerbic. It leaves an impression that Myra DuBois is only just getting started. And we’re very much here for the journey ahead. Utterly brilliant in every way.
Myra DuBois: Be Well is touring the UK through September and October. Tickets are available here.
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