QGSS 2023-24: ‘The Fringe’ | Paddy Daddy’s Guide to the Irish Famine, 1740

QGSS 2023-24: ‘The Fringe’ | Paddy Daddy’s Guide to the Irish Famine, 1740-41

September 12th, 7.30pm, Hampstead Jazz Club

Join us at the Hampstead Jazz Club (located within the historic cellar of the Duke of Hamilton Pub – one of the oldest pubs in London) – the base for our ‘Fringe’ – for the continuation of our second annual as we take you back to a time when queers were more visible and accepted than you thought.

The evening will feature fabulous cabaret star Mark T Cox in the guise of a time-travelling Paddy Daddy as he takes us back to the time of the ‘Great Famine’ of 1740-41 – which preceded the more well-known ‘Irish Famine’ of 1879 – during which time the loss of population was proportionately greater than that of the succeeding Irish Famine more than a century later.

Rest assured that there is nobody better to tackle such a hard-hitting topic with sensitivity, tasteful humour, and grace than Mark T Cox – a former country-boy church-organ player hailing from County Clare in South-West Ireland – who will be using his enviable pianistic skills, terrible puns, and (w)holesome tales to take us on a camp musico-comic journey that will include original songs, pop covers, and a touch of Irish filth.

Our ‘Fringe’ is rooted in the noble & historic art of Cabaret. Although cabaret in the modern sense reached its peak in the late 19th century, it has its roots in late 15th-century Paris – after which what was called the café-concert or café-chantant (which offered food along with music, singers, or magicians) started appearing in Paris by the 18th century, with similar venues popping up across Europe at the time.

All you are required to do is leave your preconceptions at the door, fetch a libation from the bar, and come as yourself – with or without bells on!

The Queer Georgian Social Season is conceived & curated by Ian Peter Bugeja & Mark Francis-Vasey.

Paddy Daddy | Mark T Cox

Doors open: 7.30pm

Performance start time: 8pm

Tickets: £15, £10 concessions (for under 25s)

Pictured: Mark T Cox | Captured by Corinne

Host or Publisher Burgh House & Hampstead Museum