Fasten Your Seatbelts - It's Pam Ann

Feature, By Christian Taylor, 22nd January, 2008

Pam Ann is the undisputed camp queen of the skies – the 1960’s clad air-hostess who has toured the UK with Cher, dished out stiff drinks and attitude on Elton John’s star studded private jet and has even been described by Madonna as being “cruelly funny”. Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen, make sure your luggage is stowed under the seat in front of you and get ready to assume the brace position – this Mardi Gras Pam Ann’s bringing her show Come Fly With Me home to Australia and no-one is safe.

“The show is a lot of observational comedy about airline crew, the differences between scheduled and charter crew and yes, there’s lots of audience participation. I know, I know, I hate audience participation too when it’s not my show!” she laughs. “I get a lot of cabin crew along to my shows so I like to play them off each other a bit – your Virgin Blue against your Qantas longhaul for instance. It’s a lot of fun. The show is a bit of a ‘best of’ – with some of the classic stuff in there, along some new material too.”

Pam Ann is the comedic creation of Caroline Reid. She started out playing gigs in gay bars in Melbourne before coming to Sydney to perform with the drag queens and trannies at The Albury. “I have fond memories of those days. I just loved hanging out with those girls – Polly Petry, Mogadonna, Carlotta. I loved being part of that world, it was just heaven.”

So how does a girl go from playing in Aussie gay bars to working with some of the biggest names in the business? “You perform in more gay bars in London! Seriously, I worked in every single gay club and tranny bar here since I arrived in 2000. It was one after another.” In 2004 Pam was hired to be the air hostess on Elton John’s private jet. The plane was flying all his celebrity guests to Venice for his birthday. “That gig came from me doing a men only bar in Earls Court. And then the Cher gig came from Mardi Gras – Cher’s manager saw me perform, so that’s how that happened – every break comes from a gay club!”

Caroline is originally a Melbourne girl and while she may have been wooed by the bright lights of London, she still calls Australia home. Well, 45% home anyway.

“I’m torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool. I love Australia – a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges…” she chuckles. “But London’s fabulous, you can work here all the time, whereas in Australia there are only so many people who will see your act before they say, ‘When she gonna do another show?’”

Caroline says that the role of Pam is art imitating life now. “I am travelling constantly these days! It’s good though, every plane I get on the cabin crew come up and tell me things for the act, so it’s non-stop material for me. It’s fantastic, I love it. I get all the inside information from them.”

So what’s Pam’s theory on why so many gay men end up as flight attendants? Could it be the steady stream of available single men? The glamour of having a lover in every port? “Of course,” she laughs, “but how many can you shag, really? It gets to the point where the crew all start cross breeding – your British Airways start shagging your Virgin Atlantics for instance. God forbid if they start shagging charter staff! I guess you have to draw the line somewhere. That’s just wrong.”

Pam Ann’s Come Fly With Me plays at Melbourne’s Concert Hall Tuesday 19 February, and Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on 22 and 23 February. Click here for tickets.

Pam Ann’s new DVD Come Fly With Me is in stores Feb 13. We have five copies to give away. To get your hands on one, click here.

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