Esther Fallick likes to call herself “Brooklyn’s finest recently blonde trans woman cabaret comedienne,” and it doesn’t take much doing to confirm the accuracy of that description.
Ahead of the second performance of Fallick’s new hour-long comedy show, Esther Updates Her Book, at Joe’s Pub on Sunday, Vogue caught up with her to chat about working with Natalie Walker, writing an anthem for the purple M&M, and her desire to see more vaudeville-inflected comedy on (and off-) Broadway.
Vogue: As a New Yorker, how are you feeling about Zohran Mamdani’s recent election as mayor?
Esther Fallick: I’m honestly feeling so great. Something that I think about a lot is not only, Am I going to be able to live in New York?, but also: Is my audience going to be able to survive here and buy tickets? Zohran’s win is a huge boon for the whole artistic economy.
Okay, equally important question: You’ve recently gone blonde. How has that adjustment been?
Well, it changed everything. When I posted about going blonde, I feel like I got a bigger reaction than when I posted about coming out as a woman. When I came out as a woman, people were like, “Congrats.” But when I came out as blonde, they were like, “Oh my God. That’s amazing.” I do have my recession roots coming out.
They look very Carrie Bradshaw.
That’s so funny, because I went as Curtis Sliwa on Halloween, and three people thought I was Carrie Bradshaw.
What are you most looking forward to about debuting your show at Joe’s Pub this week?
The thing that I’m most excited about is that I feel like the theater world has just not been telling good trans stories. They don’t really know how to include trans people within commercial theater, so the show is sort of a reclamation for trans theater people. There’s a really joyous atmosphere, and in the same way that everyone has been like, “I’m giving myself permission to lib out” since Zohran’s election, my show is sort of like permission to high-school-theater-nerd out.
We need that.
Now more than ever!
How would you describe your show to someone who hasn’t yet seen it, but is cool?
First of all, I’m only ever describing things to cool people, so I’m ready with this one. I would say that it’s part stand-up show, part cabaret, part earnest musical theater, part one-woman show about navigating how your relationship to your art changes as you change. It’s really funny, but also? Everyone cries.
#Esther #Fallick #Blonde #BrooklynBased #Ready #Bring #Comedy #OffBroadway
