All Rise...

Judge Brett Cullum reeks of gin and regret.

The Charge

In 1982, Leslie Jordan stepped off a Greyhound bus from the hills of Tennessee, said "Hello!" to Hollywood, and has never looked back.

The Case

Leslie Jordan is an Emmy winning guest star of Will and Grace, and he's not even five feet tall. Out and proud in Hollywood for over three decades, he's proven being queer doesn't mean you have to butch it up to stand tall, starring in films like Sordid Lives and Ski Patrol. Okay…so maybe he's not that big of a star, now that I think about it, but he does have quite a story to tell, and it's nice to hear him tell it.

My Trip Down The Pink Carpet started off as a book and evolved into a one man show for Leslie, touring the country speaking on the topic he knows best…himself. The stories are poignant, funny, and quite moving. What's amazing about Leslie Jordan's act is it should ring true with any gay man or lesbian woman. He talks about the struggle to get the world to accept him and the even harder battle to accept himself. He touches on the inherent self-hatred that plagues many GLBT youth and adults, as they come to terms with their sexuality. He also goes into part of his recovery process, revealing his private war with drug and alcohol addiction. And of course he gossips quite a bit about his famous friends and celebrity run-ins.

Here at DVD Verdict, we were given a screener of this concert performance. The video looked lackluster, washed out, and off kilter, not showing much in the way of detail or true color. As such, my judgment may not accurately reflect that of final product. However, I fear this can't look much better, even if we received the master tape. It's hard to tape a stage show, and this looked like someone just set up a camera or two in the theater and caught it on the fly. There were no extras either, which seems a shame. Although, having this performance is reason enough to get excited, since it's rare these one man shows ever make it to DVD. Even if the transfer looks low-tech, the material is great to see.

Amazingly, Leslie Jordan taped this back in 2008, but talks quite a bit about gay teen suicide because of his involvement with The Trevor Project. He knows firsthand the anguish of gay youth and what they suffer through. He speaks about it with the knowledge of a tortured soul who has turned his pain into the ultimate therapy and best medicine. His story becomes standup, and he's truly funny even when hitting on the deep stuff. Doing what all great comics do, Leslie uses turns his weaknesses into strengths by showing a ton of courage, and that's fabulous enough. This production is a rare chance to see him tell everything firsthand. It is too bad the quality of the DVD isn't better.

The Verdict

Guilty of being FABULOUS!

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