Australian comedian Reuben Kaye has celebrated Easter with more jokes and jabs at religion and a takedown of conservative bans on drag performances in a new TV stand-up comedy set.
Last month, the comic lapped up the outrage after he claimed he “broke Australia” with a raunchy Jesus joke on The Project.
Reuben has now appeared at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Allstars Super Show, which the ABC broadcast last week. It’s now streaming on ABC iview.
Over the Easter weekend, Reuben posted clips from his set on social media with the caption “Happy Easter”.
“I’m Jewish. Well, Jew-ish. It’s complicated because I was raised by Jews but I was reared by Catholics,” he told the crowd.
He went on, “There’s been a lot in the media recently about drag and what’s appropriate in front of children.
“Some of my material isn’t exactly child-friendly. But when you get right down to it, who would you rather have holding your child – a drag queen or a priest?
“Because the worst thing a drag queen’s gonna put on a kid’s face is glitter.”
The comedian acknowledged “drag is everywhere these days” and “you could almost say it’s a bigger business than religion.”
“The only difference is drag queens pay taxes, churches pay hush money,” he said.
In a musical number, Reuben also sang about his “39 lashes” and ended his set surrounded by drag queens and declaring, “Nailed it!”
@reubenkaye Doing my thing in front of 3000 people in Melbourne. #reubenkaye #fyp #comedy #drag #funny #standupcomedy #humor #ukcomedy #melbournecomedyfestival #lgbtqia #antitransbill #dragban #foxnews #pride #dragqueens #cabaret ♬ original sound – ReubenKaye
The Project apologises after Reuben Kaye Jesus sex joke
In early March, Reuben Kaye dropped the raunchy joke on The Project while discussing homophobic messages Christians had sent him.
“I think it’s hilarious when someone messages me and says, ‘you have to accept Jesus’s love or you will burn in hell,’” he said.
“Because I love Jesus. I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more.”
Twenty-four hours after Reuben dropped the first joke on The Project, the Ten show’s co-hosts issued a grovelling apology.
Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris apologised to camera after complaints flew online.
“During a live interview last night, our guest told a joke which we know was deeply and needlessly offensive to many of you,” he said.
“We want to acknowledge the particular offence and hurt that it caused our Muslim but especially our Christian viewers.
“Obviously, I understand just how profound that offence was.”
Co-host Sarah Harris added, “Live TV is unpredictable. And when this happened in the last few moments of the show, it took us all by surprise.
“There wasn’t a lot of time to react in a considered way.”
Waleed went on, “It’s fair to say we weren’t expecting a comment like that to be made and we acknowledge the offence it caused. More than that, we’re sorry.”
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