Community Service is an exciting debut show from Melbourne's breakout drag darling, Charity Werk. Charity Werk is warm, sassy, silly and thoroughly charming as she trails through stand-up liberally scattered with musical interludes and personal anecdotes. Her mix-ups of modern songs playfully tease out jokes and progress the action, covering everything from escapades on dating apps to encounters with religious fanatics (some songs ‘werk’ more than others).
Charity Werk’s biggest strength is in her storytelling. While plenty of the show is largely frivolous and light, playing around with gay male stereotypes, she also pauses to consider everyday microaggressions rooted in homophobia and internalised toxic masculinity. It's powerful to learn that the drag queen flouncing about before you still regrets not standing up for the queer boy in the school production as a deeply closeted teenager.
It's a joy to watch a young drag queen embracing the camp and caricature of good old-fashioned drag while bringing modern sensitivities and nuances to the table – and serving sick burns to the straight girls who drop drag slang learned from RuPaul's Drag Race.
Charity Werk is a commanding stage presence, and Community Service has a whole lot of heart. There's already so much to love, and the idea of watching her develop and mature even further as a drag artist and performer is an exciting prospect.
Performed as part of Sydney Comedy Festival
