VIVIAN

Glamour is resistance   Vivian, of Latin origin, meaning ‘alive’.   I saw Justin Vivian Bond perform for the first time in London, 2002. Fresh off the boat from small town Canada, I had no idea what was happening on stage at the Soho Theatre, but I was transfixed by their now-iconic character, Kiki. Determined to ‘get it’, I returned the following night and was smacked sideways by their singular blend of mayhem and observation - it was important, it was urgent and it spewed a level of layered wit bestowed by geniuses – IYKYK.   In the years since, I’ve become a devoted fanboy and rarely miss a JVB show at their home space of Joe’s Pub in NYC. To see Vivian perform is to feel alive: we laugh, we cry – (‘you know it’s the same release’*) – and are held for an evening in the safety of community, where no one gives a fuck about what you call yourself. Now, more than ever, their shows have become warrior cries, calls to unite and fight because their very existence is being erased by the Uni