At promptly 7:30 on a Friday night, a femme in fishnets whispered “go” from the soundbooth at the House of Yes. A spotlight turned on two performers: one in black stirrups, the other was the aerial artist Zepi,, in white bandages with cherries at the tips of their ten inch heels. God Complex, who also goes by the name Aeon Andreas and organizes the bi-annual drag show at the club, appeared behind them, dressed in black latex and a ponytail well below their hemline, picking the cherries off their heels before ropes pulled Nightmare to the ceiling, disappearing out of view.
The assembled crowd fell into a hush as God Complex took centerstage under a single spotlight to start the show.
“My name is God Complex, but you can call me Daddy,” they said, before changing their mind.
“Fuck that you can call me God.”
After the crowd responded with an enthusiastic “Yes God,” Complex smiled and ran their hand down their ponytail. The introduction seemed to set the scene for a night of dominatrixes, maximalism and kinky drag. “Absolutely Smut” is the seventh of these shows that Andreas has hosted (and produced and directed and curated, as they tell personally me via email), so far at the House of Yes and which give part-art installation and part-experimental theater drag show, featuring characters who Complex call the best of Brooklyn’s drag “kings, queens and in-betweens”.
The shows generally have three simple rules: 1) Tip the drag artists, with cash or coin in the tip jar they pass around (it looks like a giant bottle of poppers) or via venmo. 2) Applause is required. 3) And, of course, respect.
One by one, the lineup of drag performers took the stage for their own take on “smut,” the theme of the evening. Clad in a showgirl-esque tulle robe and sitting on a giant moon prop, for instance, was RaRa Darling, descending onto the stage in a cloud of pink light. Elsewhere was Nyx Nocturne, turning out an envelope-pushing number that employed dentist equipment and leather-suited submissives as assistants.
“Feet on the ground, close your eyes, deep breath. Center yourself, arrive, do a kegel,” Complex’s voice could be heard saying in between performances. “This is a room full of people suspending time.”
Like a pastor, Andreas’ performance as God Complex captivated the crowd in their acknowledgment of the connection between vulnerability and bliss.
If you want to experience bliss, says Complex, you have to be open to the things we most desire, shamelessly. Each performance spoke to a new level of vulnerability, with many of the performers, stripping nude and taking on different aspects of the larger taxonomy of smut, from burlesque to spanking to dominating.
In between acts, Complex and House of Yes producer Adam Dishian worked the crowd with games like “hit the sub,” where three dominant-identifying guests got to throw a ball at felt targets on a submissive-identifying guest, helpfully tied up to an X. There was a raffle too and a bidding war for the chance to lick cake off of RaRa Darling’s bottom. Featured audience members got to introduce themselves with prompts like “tell us your pronouns and something sexy about yourself.”
The show ended in a stunning final number, where Guppi Nightmare again appeared, bound in ropes and suspended above Complex, an image evocative perhaps of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam.” The cast soon joined them onstage, as the room filled with applause for another leather and lace spectacle in the heart of Bushwick.
The show lasted two and a half hours, with an intermission; tickets cost $15. Find about the next God Complex show on Instagram or by signing up for their email list.
Photos taken by Molly Healy.
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