Ep 65: KY Kelly said

🎙️ What’s This Episode About?

KY Kelly is a live vocalist, comedian and drag performer who has spent years building one of the most recognisable presences on the UK cabaret circuit, with residencies across Manchester's Village, gigs up and down the country, and a name that has a very good reason for existing. John catches her at Brewers in Manchester, recorded on one of the hottest days of the year, with a gig at Bar Pop and Via to follow that evening. Very much business as usual.

KY traces the whole journey from the beginning: the drag DJ era powered by Virtual DJ and sheer chat, to landing a Sunday service residency at the Eagle that she describes as her drag university, to touring as first cover Hugo in Everybody's Talking About Jamie alongside Kevin Clifton, John Partridge and Darren Day. She talks about what it actually took to get from doing £30 gigs to being the kind of act that venues book without needing to see first, and why treating every room like your living room is still the best tactic she knows.

The conversation is also a love letter to the Manchester scene and the venues and queens who gave her a chance when nobody was watching. KY is candid about loyalty, about being a girl of a certain age who has done the working men's clubs and got changed in toilets and knows exactly what all the years of grind were for. She also has a lot of very strong opinions on celebrity casting in musical theatre, which she shares with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever.

There is also an album. A recorded one. Finished and ready. And a very funny story involving Twitter, a late night train from London, and some looks from passengers that KY would rather not revisit.

It's loud, warm, utterly unfiltered, and the kind of conversation that leaves you feeling like you've had a proper night out before it's even started.

Follow KY on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/kykellyofficial/

🗣️ Why Listen?

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