Oh, my days! Is your love life in the dumps? Not sure how to flirt or how to chat up fit singles in your area? Need a confidence boost? Steve Porters is here to save the day with his one-hour interactive seminar “How To Flirt: The Ted XXX Talk” where you can learn to be an absolute flirt master like the big man himself.
Porters is the drag king persona of British actor Daisy Doris May; an energetic, blinged-up modern-day London lad with a love for the ladies. Falling somewhere between Ali G and Justin Bieber, Porters is a spritely and quippy iPod DJ, self-proclaimed feminist and aspiring boy band member. Using his patented methods of BIRDS (“Bold, Interesting, Romance, Dancing, Spooning”), Porters takes us on a crash course in how to woo the opposite sex complete with group exercises, one-on-one demos in seduction and playfully wild antics.
Porters may just have the greatest crowd work I’ve seen at any comedy show this year. If you thought you’d be safe in the back row, think again. You’re in Porter’s seminar, and he has the reins. His larger-than-life personality and big ego are infectious and you can’t help but grin like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. May is a commendable artist with a terrific stage presence and gives every inch to the performance. There’s never a missed opportunity for Porters to use their abundant physicality and caricatured mannerisms in brilliantly funny and crowd-pleasing ways. He’s always at the top of his game and never stops moving, whether he’s popping and locking, breaking out into b-boy dance numbers or just moving about across the stage and into the bleachers for a spontaneous moment with his audience. It’s damn near impossible to not like him.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the premise was an exercise in didactic parody, but this is far from just a mere riff on the pitfalls of masculinity and toxic men. Porters is a refreshingly wholesome figure; an absolute dunce who uses too much Lynx Africa, but one with a heart as gold as his neck chain. He’s an eager flirter in every regard, but never at the expense of others. The emphasis on consent and respect is delivered in an accessible and comedic way that feels no need to be preachy. It’s an exercise in collective reflection on the dynamics of modern dating and how we can all communicate better…even through the medium of break dancing.
“How To Flirt: The Ted XXX Talk” never misses a beat and keeps you guessing from one wild antic and flirting technique to another. You’ll leave with an appreciation not just for how to flirt, but also how versatile a one-man show can truly be in the hands of a master. Outrageous flirty fun!
***** Five Stars