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2023 SHOW DATES
22 November - MEN-OH-PAUSE new solo show at Phoenix Arts Club, WEST END, London, with support from Elvis Lesley. Doors open 6pm, 7.30pm show. You can also buy a poetry pamphlet or book Barbara to appear at your own event via the Contact page. Or get Barbara to personalise a filmed birthday/ Christmas/ divorce message to a loved one, or your ex. To Do List London ★★★★★ “Barbara Brownskirt (A character of Karen McLeod) is the best of anarchic comedy, shouting her way through some beautifully written, often cringe-fuelled poetry. To pivot from taking the piss to tugging on our heartstrings is a tall order, and Brownskirt does it with ease.” The Sunday Times “Rik Mayall meets performance art.” Carol Ann Duffy "I loved it!" VICE Magazine "Indefatigable, prolific and utterly unpublishable, Barbara is rubbish, but she doesn't know it." |
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Poet-in-Residence at the 197 bus stop on Croydon Road in south-east London, Penge Punk Poet and Judi Dench groupie, Barbara Brownskirt is anorak wearing and unlucky-in-love. Writing and performing cringe-worthy poetry, Barbara is highly prolific, yet hugely unsuccessful. Barbara has been described as ‘affecting, sad and touchingly unaware’ (VICE) to the extent that her poetry becomes genuinely moving. Her muse is Judi Dench, and she has mother and ex-girlfriend issues. Her main aim is to dismantle the patriarchy, by bringing it down one-person-at-a-time.
The story behind the cagoule - Barbara Brownskirt is the comic creation of Karen McLeod. The character first began as an improvisation at experimental performance art night MOONA which was co-hosted by Karen and the visual artist and DJ Jane Dinmore. For 'gay ladies and their friends', the club encouraged the notion of fun as a subversive force for good.
Karen attended art college in Cardiff in 1990s, studying performance art, film and writing. After finding a VHS copy of Victor/Victoria, a film starring Julie Andrews, Karen began performing as a drag queen, impersonating men impersonating women. This was found to be too unorthodox, even on the drag scene, so Karen got little work. Karen began writing fiction and had her first novel published. When a second didn't appear, Barbara Brownskirt began to emerge. Angry and passionate, her look came from the idea of being the opposite of 'male to female' drag. Rather than adding hair in the form of a wig, Karen hid her hair, made her legs appear unflattering with pop socks and her body shapeless in a cagoule. Barbara Brownskirt rejects all signifiers of her sex. Karen believes if drag is a spectrum, Barbara is the inverse of (now) mainstream drag.
The character of Barbara is now popular across the UK gay cabaret, literary and comedy community, read more.
Crystal Palace Festival
photo: Pawel Gawronski
Barbara Brownskirt regularly works with Polari the LGBTQ+ literary salon and its accompanying ACE funded national tours.
She can be found at Duckie, the live art co-operative, Brighton Festival, Camden People's Theatre, Liverpool’s Homotopia and Birmingham’s SHOUT Festival.
Her UK tour of the full length sell-out show 'Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt' went on to a successful run at the Assembly Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In early 2020 Barbara performed with performance collective 'Mothers Ruin' at Manchester’s Turn On Fest, and artist Tom Marshman in Bristol.
She has been commissioned by Liverpool Pride, London Pride and performed at Latitude and Wilderness Festivals as well as working alongside artists Scottee and Ursula Martinez.
In 2022 Barbara had an intermittent residency at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London, where she curated her own variety night of comedy, anarchy and poetry.
Shows archive.
Barbara Brownskirt regularly works with Polari the LGBTQ+ literary salon and its accompanying ACE funded national tours.
She can be found at Duckie, the live art co-operative, Brighton Festival, Camden People's Theatre, Liverpool’s Homotopia and Birmingham’s SHOUT Festival.
Her UK tour of the full length sell-out show 'Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt' went on to a successful run at the Assembly Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In early 2020 Barbara performed with performance collective 'Mothers Ruin' at Manchester’s Turn On Fest, and artist Tom Marshman in Bristol.
She has been commissioned by Liverpool Pride, London Pride and performed at Latitude and Wilderness Festivals as well as working alongside artists Scottee and Ursula Martinez.
In 2022 Barbara had an intermittent residency at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London, where she curated her own variety night of comedy, anarchy and poetry.
Shows archive.
