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Irish Examiner

The Wild Geeze on the joys of burlesque, Joe Dolan, and masturbation

It's hard to categorise Irish comedy cabaret act The Wild Geeze. 'We have a unique way of seamlessly blending queer politics with earthworms, oak trees, grief, masturbation, mental health, Joe Dolan,' offers Miss Lavelle, one half of the duo. Lavelle, a burlesque artist from Limerick City, and Breda Larkin, a farmer-comedian from Galway, immediately hit it off when they met a few years ago. 'It's very country bumpkin meets city slicker,' says Lavelle. Lavelle was doing cabaret shows in Limerick at the time. Larkin was interested in expanding her horizons beyond stand-up comedy, and came to see her perform. 'Someone suggested my cabaret to her. Because Breda never felt as in the loop with all the traditional lads doing stand-up. She always had the vagina mask, and she'd always have her guitar and be having the craic,' says Lavelle. When they both lost their jobs, they decided to join forces as The Wild Geeze. 'We took to the road with just a ukulele and a dream,' she says. Over the last five years they've created a podcast, written songs, and developed a live show together. They're bringing their show to Live At St Luke's on Saturday, May 3, with support from Cork poet and author Julie Goo. Performing live is where The Wild Geeze shine. 'Sometimes having an online presence is hard. Neither of us are Gen Z,' says Lavelle. 'Live is where we really thrive. It's in the moment, you're there with people, you're all bouncing off each other and buzzing. It's definitely the best craic and the funniest jokes come out on stage.' The show has some heartfelt moments too — 'We talk a lot about grief and coping techniques in the show,' says Lavelle. 'It's a less 'sandals and candles' approach to grief and kind of more dark humour.' It's a topic that Larkin and Lavelle know all too well. 'Myself and Breda bonded over the loss of a sibling. She lost her brother and I lost my sister, and then I also lost my mother as well,' she says. The Wild Geeze: Breda Larkin and Miss Lavelle Growing up, Lavelle's late mother encouraged her appreciation of burlesque as an art form. 'My mom used to give me pictures of old 1950s colourful, nice pin up images of women,' she recalls. 'I always just thought they were the most beautiful images ever. Just so colourful and so playful, and just the idea of tease and a woman having complete power over her own body and sensuality. So I just remember thinking, I want to do that. And I went and I did it.' Burlesque celebrates nudity and sensuality in a way that is empowering and not intended for the male gaze. 'It's definitely for the male G-A-Y-Z!,' Lavelle says gleefully. 'It is predominantly quite a female body positive celebration. Because I'd be very body hair positive, and very pro my cellulite, and I don't exactly have the most ripped figure either.' As an art form, Burlesque embraces vulnerability. 'Being nude or showing your body is that level of vulnerability that people just really appreciate, and they really cheer you on, and they see something in it that they'd love to see in themselves,' she says. The Wild Geeze combine humour, feminism and climate activism, with songs including 'Irish Fanny Song' and 'The Hoes Of Tralee'. When they appeared on the Tommy Tiernan Show, Larkin brought her vulva mask. Not everyone was a fan. 'On Facebook, there was a little bit more of the boomer generation that were commenting, and they were just saying that we were disgusting, we weren't funny,' says Lavelle. 'They obviously missed the other parts of the interview where we spoke so wholesomely about our grief, and how we helped each other, and how we want to talk about mental health, and suicide, and how this country needs a better health system.' The commentary doesn't faze Lavelle. 'I've been called a freak my whole life, it's nothing to me!,' she laughs. 'And if anyone refers to me as untalented, I just know that it's not true, because I'm actually very talented.' Audiences can expect their upcoming show to be full of surprises. 'Expect the unexpected! There's going to be a lot of weird, wonderful wildness, very unapologetic queer female energy,' says Lavelle. 'It's not just for women, you know. It's for everyone. Any men that come to our show always really love it and find us very funny. And they're doing their bit for feminism by coming as well.' The Wild Geeze will be at Live At St Luke's on Saturday, May 3 at 7.30pm. Ticketstarget="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> via Read More Culture That Made Me: Izzy Showbizzy of 96FM picks her touchstones