by Brenda Hillegas
Last Friday, I woke up and did the usual- grabbed my phone and checked a variety of social media websites before actually getting out of bed. It was going to be a great day because later that afternoon I would have the pleasure of interviewing Bridget Everett- the beautiful and powerful singer, songwriter, comedian, actress, cabaret performer…I could go on.
As I was scrolling through Instagram that morning, I came upon a photo of Miss Everett wrapped up in a gorgeous, sparkly, and very see-through, kimono. The photo was breathtaking, but the message behind it really sucked. Someone stole her “holy kimony” from her show the night before! Come on people! At least once a week I see a band post a call for help and search for stolen instruments. It’s not cool. Everett has been using it as part of her Rock Bottom show at Joe’s Pub and after the prior night’s performance, it just vanished!
Her social media plea for the return of the kimono was very understanding and generous (even offering a pair of tickets for an upcoming show if it was returned). Luckily, by the time I spoke with Everett later that day, the custom-made kimono was found. “Thanks to the great detective work of Instagram,” she says. “People get grabby.”
Everett herself can get grabby, too. But in a good, not-stealing-your-shit kind of way. When I saw her during last summer’s Oddball Comedy Festival stop in Philly (well, Camden), she closed out the first half of the evening’s line-up by showing the audience her breasts and sitting on a young man’s face (before giving him a piggy back ride up to the stage). Maybe you caught Everett during last year’s season finale of Inside Amy Schumer, or her cameo appearance in Trainwreck. Maybe you saw Everett’s Comedy Central special, Gynecological Wonder, and just had to have more. But for most people at Oddball this summer, it was their first time seeing Everett perform and by the end of her performance, she had the audience by their balls.
From the cheers of the crowd, it was easy to tell that her short 20-ish minute set at Oddball wasn’t enough for the people of Philadelphia. Lucky for us, this Friday she’s back for a SOLD OUT cabaret style performance at the Trocadero in Chinatown. What can we expect with no one else on the stage to steal her well-deserved spotlight? “It’s going to be a wild ride,” she laughs. “I’m going to make a lot of new friends!” (re: above paragraph!)
Everett is currently spending her evenings at Joe’s Pub in New York City where she performs her back-by-popular-demand show, Rock Bottom. Performances are running until February 20th. Created by Everett, Rock Bottom blends the experience of a cabaret show with her uninhibited personality. Kimonos aside (literally), Everett sings songs with no boundaries and doesn’t care if you’re offended (if that’s the case, you really shouldn’t be in the audience). Rock Bottom was commissioned by Joe’s Pub and it is co-created by Broadway’s Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray), and Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.
Everett says her show at the Trocadero this week, however, is all Bridget. No one else on stage. It will be similar her performance at the Oddball Festival this summer, but I’m sure we can likely expect a sprinkling of what she does with Rock Bottom and the songs she sings with her band Tender Moments. “I’m not all about sitting on the audience’s face and letting my titties fly out,” Everett says. “My band is called Tender Moments because we cover all colors of the rainbow.” Her 2013 album with Tender Moments includes ballad-sounding titles like “Stay With Me” and “Living the Dream”. But then you also have “Fuck Shit Up”, “Just the Tip,” and “Pussy Power”, so a performance of some of those songs would be epic. As unpredictable as Everett is, it’s best to just show up to the Trocadero and expect anything.
“The Trocadero just seems like a place you would want to play in Philly,” says Everett who has played in the city before, but never at the Troc. Local comedian Doogie Horner is set to warm up the crowd for Everett, and she’s excited to see him again. With local comedians opening up her handful of tour dates, Everett says it’s “nice to see what’s happening in other towns.”
Since Everett needs to return to NYC for Rock Bottom, touring is limited right now. “January isn’t the ideal time to travel around anyway,” says Everett. “We group together a few shows/weeks at a time so I can do other stuff.”
Other stuff includes the upcoming MAKERS Conference which honors women who make America. This year’s participants also include Reese Witherspoon, Caitlyn Jenner, Katie Couric, Abby Wambach, and Gloria Steinem. Everett wrote a song inspired by Steinem. “Gloria wrote me a lovely email,” Everett says about the activist who was once spotted singing Everett’s songs in her audience. “This will be the cherry on top of this tour.”
Everett is also thrilled to have recently received her diamond status and is looking forward to more traveling and complimentary upgrades. “I’m all about punch cards and buy ten, get one free,” she says. I warned her about a place not far from the Trocadero that did not honor my punch card. No name dropping here, because it turns out the place went out of business not too long ago (hmmmm).
The Village Voice wrote a wonderful article on Everett in 2014 which is very well written compared to this piece and way less fangirly. In it, both her pal Amy Schumer and Joe’s Pub director Shanta Thake say that as an audience member, you leave a Bridget Everett show as a changed person.
“It’s not like I’m trying to send a message or anything,” Everett explains. “People should just let go, loosen up, step outside of themselves. That’s what I do.”
So this Friday night, whether she makes out with a stranger, finds her life partner in Philadelphia, or just sings her heart out to an appreciative crowd, Bridget Everett will be in our city doing what she loves. And you’ll love it too, I promise.
