As with any one-man theatrical show, Mike Delamont’s latest production has evolved. Its genesis began in 2006 at Victoria’s Atomic Vaudeville cabaret, an ensemble sketch-comedy group in the same vein as Saturday Night Live or Second City.
While there, according to Delamont, he and another cast member wrote a skit in which Jesus and Satan had a battle of the bands for supremacy.
“I played dad, a very secondary character,” said Delamont. After that, Atomic Vaudeville audiences wanted more of that character.
“In 2011, I decided I needed to start doing my own shows and one character had a lot of material, so I put it all together,” he said. Delamont then began touring his one-man show, God is a Scottish Drag Queen.
“I’m not Scottish, a drag queen or God,” he said, “which is all very disappointing for people who meet me in real life.”
The Scottish accent, he said, was chosen because of its lovely lilt, and because it allows the audience to hear a “wink” quality that softens what began as a very aggressive character in those early skits: British, with a fiery red wig.
Now he wears a simple black bob wig and a floral dress, an idea inspired by the image of God as painted by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, where God is depicted as wearing only a light tunic.
“One of the most famous images of God is in this gentle pink outfit, so we thought, wouldn’t it be fun to have God in a demure outfit,” said Delamont.
The title, God is a Scottish Drag Queen, was a placeholder, according to Delamont. “I wear a dress and he’s Scottish, so I thought I’d just call it that until I think of something better,” he said. “I never thought of anything better.”
Not surprisingly, the title has generated some negative feedback.
According to Delamont, when he took the show to Chilliwack a church group protested the show with picket signs and “people thought we actually hired them,” he said.
“The title is the most blasphemous part of it,” he said. “Of course, the fact that I play God is pretty blasphemous, but the show itself is not. The thing most people will be upset with is probably the profanity.”
Everyone is a target in Delamont’s critically acclaimed roast, including Adam and Eve, Noah, Justin Bieber, the Pope and Donald Trump.
God is a Scottish Drag Queen plays at Max Cameron Theatre on Friday, November 4. For more information about the show, which is appropriate for ages 14 and up, go to maxcamerontheatre.ca.
