The whole gang at the Admiral Duncan will be getting together for the Easter weekend and we suspect it will end in tears – tears of laughter! Dave Cross went through the line up with manager Oliver Blatherwick to get his views on his fantastically dysfunctional family.
Hi Oliver, we know you’re starting the Easter weekend with Sandra – how are her STDs going?
Recurring and totally infectious! Sandra’s Thursday Dunky (STD) is our newest residency at the Admiral Duncan. After the huge success of Mary Mac’s Tuneful Tartan Thursdays we wanted someone that was completely different and utterly entertaining, and there was only one act we had in mind. We are truly honoured to have a drag legend join the Dunky family; Soho needed her ‘warts and all’ style cabaret, and we’re glad to say she’s here to stay. It’s quite common that on a Thursday a straight man will have his first homoerotic experience on our stage with Sandra. She will be starting our Easter weekend on Thursday from 9pm with Baga Chipz. But be warned, never let Baga try your drink…
On Good Friday you’ve got Miss Penny, Son of a Tutu and Fanny Burns – describe each of these lovely girls.
Oh that’s easy; gobshite, pernickety and gobshite. They know I love them really. It’s going to be a night of camp sing-alongs and full of entertaining, politically incorrect hilarity, providing they don’t kill me.
On Saturday night you have five acts performing. Firstly, are you mad? And secondly, what can we expect?
I must be mad. I think I’ve invited more, but from what I remember we have Martha D’Arthur hosting plus Vicki Vivacious, Stephanie Von Clitz, Mary Mac and Nancy Clench. Our theme this year is The Last Supper, but with more wine and no bread. It will be the usual organised chaos of drag, and even Jesus might show up as we already have Elvis coming. We are open late from Thursday to Monday but get here before 9pm as we fill up pretty quick these days and the queue is getting bigger every week.
Do you think Martha will be able to keep control on Saturday?
She may go by the nickname Mellow Martha but in the two years she’s been at the Dunky I have never met a more competitive and determined queen. I think that’s why we get on so well. I’ve recently heard rumours of her stopping mid-song to give a verbal lashing to a group of noisy customers – although Skittle Bombs help with that of course.
It all comes to a climax on Easter Sunday with Baga, Mrs Moore and Candy Slag In Drag – is that your Holy Trinity?
We certainly don’t do your typical Sunday cabaret here at the Dunky. It’s more of an ‘unholy trinity’ with the ‘piss-elegant’ Baga Chipz, the ‘piss-artist’ Mrs Moore and the ‘always-pissed’ Candy Slag In Drag. All with their shared mantra of “Shot, dear?”
And then on Bank Holiday Monday you’ve got the one and only Nancy Clench…
We do indeed. She brings cabaret and karaoke together every Monday, and with our £2.50 promotion on selected drinks you can witness her God-given talent of necking six shots of tequila through the instrumental break of And I Am Telling You. We are extremely proud of her work in her day job and the success of her campaigns. Check out the BuzzFeed article about her, although, if you want to see the real Nancy you should see her after closing. I’ve been building quite a collection of CCTV footage for those rainy days…
The Admiral Duncan, 54 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, W1D 4UB.
Entry is free.
Recommended for you
