We're back in Bangkok after a blissful week in Koh Chang and the city that never sleeps is doing its best to exhaust, fascinate, and feed us well. After a day of desultory shopping and riding around in boats we went to a kathoey ("ladyboy") cabaret performance at the Asia Hotel.
If you can picture a cross between Sabado Gigante (Latino variety show) and TrannyShack (SF drag institution) with a seriously loud sound system, you'd have Calypso Cabaret. Only it'd be Thai ladyboys lip-synching to a Carmen Miranda mambo number followed by a Tom Jones tune, followed by a camp take on Japanese geisha, and then a Spanish flamenco bar fight (which necessitates a lot of bodice ripping). And that was all in about 15 minutes.
Confused? Intrigued? Wondering how one goes about finding size 11W heels to sing along to the Gypsy Kings? You're not alone.
Maybe this video (not ours) will put it in context.
Anyway, it was great fun and we talked about camp and Susan Sontag's thoughts on it the whole way home, while hoping to find some mango sticky rice before crashing out. Tomorrow, we'll start all over again. It'll be our very last day in Bangkok.
More cabaret videos can be found here and here. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That pretty much makes me want to go to Bangkok, a city I otherwise have no interest in visiting. I want to go, like, NOW.
ReplyDeleteHave a safe journey home.