Murray Hill and
Miss Dirty Martini

New York City has been a haven for creative and outrageous drag queens since long before the Stonewall Riots that pissed-off female impersonators so famously ignited one hot June night in 1969. Curiously, though, drag kings -- females performing send-ups of male archetypes -- have always been in short supply. Murray Hill is currently New York's only drag king of any stature, despite the fact that he stands only around 5 feet 5 inches with lifts in his shoes. He performs as a leering, alcoholic show-biz impresario whose backup dancers, towering over him in high heels and sequined bikinis, smile obligingly down at him while he attempts to bury his sputtering face in their bosoms. He emcees everything from lesbian beauty pageants to burlesque cabarets, keeping crowds in hysterics with his deliciously obnoxious drunken persona. There's magic in his exaggerated gestures, like his trademark grotesque lip-licking move, his pointed tongue darting out froggishly to trace the thin line of his fake moustache. In harassing his audiences mercilessly -- nobody escapes ridicule -- he manages to make everybody love the abuse.

At this performance, the second installment of the "Direct From NYC" series, Murray will be joined by Dirty Martini, one of the first ladies of the Big Apple's burlesque revival. Expect elaborate costumes, winking stripteases and plenty of titty-shaking.

Murray Hill and Miss Dirty Martini, Fri., Sept. 26, 9 p.m., $10, Five Spot, 1 S. Bank St., 215-574-0070

—Sara Marcus

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