Hot Gay Time Machine
Trafalgar Studios
Reviewed – 30th November 2018
★★★★★
“Self-aware and ironic, the show allows nothing, and yet everything, to be sacred”
Imagine you could travel back through time. Well, along your own lifetime. Where would you go? What crucial, formative moments would you love to revisit in all their cringey – or spectacular – glory? This is the premise for ‘Hot Gay Time Machine’, a wonderfully camp and self-aware musical cabaret now basking in the warm glow of a West End transfer.
Zak Ghazi-Torbati and Toby Marlow are an electrifying, hilarious double-act. With Marlow on keyboard, the pair journey forwards from their high school days staring at/avoiding “cocks in the locker room”, through coming out to their mums, to becoming the hot gay time machine specialists they are today. With writer/director Lucy Moss, the team have assembled a show that offers relatable stories, joyful musical numbers, and a fun exploration of being modern day (cis-white-privileged) gay men.
Self-aware and ironic, the show allows nothing, and yet everything, to be sacred. The humour masks a serious mission (donations to Stonewall were also welcomed at the end) to bring gay culture to ‘the mainstream’ with all the contradictions that come with that openly on display. At one point the duo ask themselves if they’ve ever had a gay male friend they’ve not had some sort of sexual relationship with. Answer: yes! Well, sort of. There is always “that one time.” Or “that other time.” And so it goes.
But this is an evening for all to enjoy. The songs are a constant game of bait-and-switch, lively and funny, and the show is an absolute blast from start to finish. Audience interaction is a necessity and the duo deal with heckles with cool bravado. The set is pink to the max, and yes, there is a shimmer curtain. A definite favourite for Friday night crowds, the audience seemed to love every minute of the show.
Bombastic, hilarious and musically inventive, ‘Hot Gay Time Machine’ is top-notch queer cabaret from three extremely talented artists.
Reviewed by Joseph Prestwich
Photography by Pamela Raith
Hot Gay Time Machine
Trafalgar Studios until 5th January
Previously reviewed at this venue:
Strangers in Between | ★★★★ | January 2018
Again | ★★★ | February 2018
Good Girl | ★★★★ | March 2018
Lonely Planet | ★★★ | June 2018
Two for the Seesaw | ★★ | July 2018
Silk Road | ★★★★ | August 2018
Dust | ★★★★★ | September 2018
A Guide for the Homesick | ★★★ | October 2018
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