As Jonah From Tonga arrives on BBC Three, we salute the meticulously observed characters of Australian comic Chris Lilley…
Feature
A sixteen year old Queen Bee, a disruptive Tongan teen, a juvenile offenders’ officer in her sixties, feckless teenage twins, a flamboyant drama teacher, a pushy Japanese mother… Chris Lilley puts on a wig, an outfit (and sometimes, a controversial bit of face paint) and becomes them all.
Watch him in costume and there’s no sense that Lilley is anyone but the character he’s playing. Other comedy drag acts - Little Britain’s Emily and Florence, for instance - might trade on the physical disconnect between the actor and persona, but Lilley is no pantomime dame. In his glossy brunette wig and school dress, the thirty-nine year old man disappears and he simply is hair-flicking, doe-eyed teen Ja’mie King. Change the wig, accent and mannerisms, and he becomes a naughty,...
Feature
A sixteen year old Queen Bee, a disruptive Tongan teen, a juvenile offenders’ officer in her sixties, feckless teenage twins, a flamboyant drama teacher, a pushy Japanese mother… Chris Lilley puts on a wig, an outfit (and sometimes, a controversial bit of face paint) and becomes them all.
Watch him in costume and there’s no sense that Lilley is anyone but the character he’s playing. Other comedy drag acts - Little Britain’s Emily and Florence, for instance - might trade on the physical disconnect between the actor and persona, but Lilley is no pantomime dame. In his glossy brunette wig and school dress, the thirty-nine year old man disappears and he simply is hair-flicking, doe-eyed teen Ja’mie King. Change the wig, accent and mannerisms, and he becomes a naughty,...
- 5/7/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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