Canned Ham by and with Tom Judson a.k.a.....

(tt)  To the soaring strains of Thus Spake Whatisname and blue flame and fireworks the beautfully sensual body, clad only in a jock strap, of porn star, Gus Mattox, is presented in all its glory.  Our admiration having been collectively gasped and his every pore scrutinised, Mr Mattox melts away and descends from his podium. The spotlight fades and his puppeteer, Mr Judson, steps forward and genuinely asks, "Is it too much?"
  Cleverly, the ogle factor is despatched and we hear the true story of how, in his varied career, two aspects of show business, .the musical and the erotic,  have walked precariously hand in hand.   In fact Tom's opening number,"Lullaby of Broadway" with his own accompaniment on accordion,  shifts from  how he managed to have performed on-stage at night as a member of the National touring company of "42nd St" while that very afternoon, at a very different matinee, as a top in a gay porn threesome.  This was as lovingly crafted a piece of theatre as the whole evening.
There is a very touching third aspect of the narrative which he  returns to throughout....the loss of his lover and the magic moment when he is able to let go and happily move on.  Fairy dust!
He plays 10 instruments...some more adroitly than others..but his mastery especially of the piano and his lovely, true theatre voice make this evening  musically, too, a really satisfying one.
 He is brutally honest about his involvement in the sex trade..escort work as well as porn..and there is a very moving story of a "john" he served in a really swank hotel in New York which borders on  being poetically profound.
He pulls no punches about what the sex industry really is..show biz and moolah and above all..acting!.
What hit me more than anything was how beautiful a person he is..how honest and open and positive about his past, present and future.
He can't dance.

  And the Canned Ham?  Well you'll have to go see it.  At Dixon Place  161a Christie St  NY NY  Thurs to Sat through March 26

ps It's a great venue run by very dedicated and warm hearted people with deep love for the theatre.