The Substation is HARD to find initially! It’s a little bunker in the ground, opposite Qtopia and next to The Oxford Hotel. Rainbows surround the road and path. You’re here, and it’s delightfully queer.
We headed down into the intimate space, where Alayne welcomed everyone in a pastel purple beret, cute purple cardigan with daisies, purple shorts and purple socks. Everyone in this tiny space was put at ease when she greeted us with “Don’t worry, I don’t do crowd work!”. Nevertheless, my plus one made for the last row.
It’s a cool venue with concrete walls covered in artful graffiti. It was also literally very cool due to the vents, so be aware of that! Give yourself time to run over to the Oxford for a toilet stop prior too!
Purple Is The Gayest Colour is a one-woman stand-up act performed by Alayne Dick, yes it’s her real surname, yes she uses it to her advantage! Alayne had already set a comfortable tone with the initial welcome, then commenced with a flamboyant stadium star entry. It was fun, quirky and cutesy, which sums up Alayne quite well.
Stand-up takes an epic amount of guts. I love to consume it, I would be terrified to do it myself. Alayne leans into the awkwardness of it. This was mostly funny and endearing, but occasionally it felt like she would make up for not being sure if the joke would land, by quickly getting to the next one and that didn’t work every time.
I do watch a lot of stand-up and I am a neuro-divergent queer person, as is Alayne, so most of her work was relatable on that level. Some of it was a bit too silly, even for me, but I was laughing most of the time. She has developed comedic physical characterisation, stage presence and movement very well and she executed great use of the “call-back”, those got big laughs every time. The audience was definitely engaged and along for the ride.
I loved her authenticity, vulnerability and heart, and I found it to be a really great set, with only a few issues of confidence. Another one of these being ending with a “…and that’s the show!” which felt a little bit too sedate and broke the magic too quickly. A classic “You’ve been a great crowd!” or similar would have worked better.
As I said, I love stand up comedy, and I am aware it takes courage and vulnerability, and it can be incredibly hard to meet that challenge, especially repeatedly. I admire her work and I believe that as her confidence grows and she continues to back herself, the sky’s the limit. I look forward to seeing her again.
To book tickets to Purple Is The Gayest Colour, please visit https://events.humanitix.com/purple-is-the-gayest-colour-kfd8u4jl.
