Gig review by Steve Bennett at The Curtain, London

This won't be the first or last review to mention the fact, but it’s impossible to watch Jordan Gray and not think ‘Russell Brand’. She has the same Essex accent, the same occasional use of needlessly grandiloquent language (’bioluminescent sexual effluence’, for instance), and the same ebullient manner, posturing theatrically between lines. Heck, she’s even got a similar backcombed, wavy hairstyle.

So, yes. Russell Brand. But Russell Brand with tits. Gray got hers in Transformation Street, the ITV show which aired earlier this year about people undergoing surgery to change their gender, one of several reality TV shows she’s been on in recent years, including a memorable run on The Voice in 2016.

Being transgender naturally makes up a substantial part of her debut hour – including a priceless comeback to the transphobe’s ‘you used to be a man’ jibe –  though her debut show is free of both angsty ‘personal journey’ introspection and overtly drum-beating gender pride.  She gets her story and viewpoint cross simply by being an engaging, effervescent presence, speaking of her life with wit, honesty and no small measure of showwomanship.

She fizzes around like a firecracker, and with a similar lack of direction, jumping around in content and style almost randomly, from anecdotes to songs to a spot-on but utterly arbitrary Jeff Goldblum impression, all of which results in a rough-and-ready feel to the hour.

True-life stories laced with attitude are her forte, such as her times in an embarrassing teenage rock band. But when she goes down a more direct comic route, her material is more basic – with plenty of dick jokes, especially.

As some TV viewers will know, she also has a stunning voice, with a range from choirboy alto to growling Johnny Cash baritone, and can belt out the self-penned Showstoppers as if she were on Broadway.

But the inspiration of the songs is decidedly iffy.  Gray wrote one about an obsession with Brian Cox before realising fellow musical comedian Vikki Stone had done the same - yet a rewrite maintains most of the words. Another is about a zombie Jesus, which Tim Minchin’s covered, and the third is about gluten intolerance, which is a bit hacky. It’s a shame as she can twist a cunning lyric and has a keen musicality suggesting the songs will be her forte once she can sail into her own waters.

For the moment, the vim, charisma and over-the-top energy with which she performs is enough. But she needs more sparks of originality and a clearer focus to be truly elevated above the crowd.

Review date: 4 May 2018
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett