Kiki and Herb (a fictional 1960’s showbiz duo) are the creation of OBIE-Award winners Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman, respectively. The pair began performing together as a standard piano/singing cabaret act in the early 90’s. In 1993 they transformed into Kiki and Herb at San Francisco’s Gay Pride Weekend. Too exhausted to do their regular act, they decided to go on as alter egos Kiki and Herb, which they made up on the spot. After getting drunk and performing their regular set as these trashy characters, they received a standing ovation and decided to keep developing the characters and act, receiving critical and audience acclaim, and a devoted cult following.
BIOGRAPHIES
Justin Bond (Kiki) won an Obie award for Kiki & Herb:Jesus Wept and was recently nominated for a Helen Hayes Award as outstanding lead actor for Kiki & Herb:Pardon Our Appearance. He has appeared in productions presented by The Big Art Group, Tiny Mythic Theatre Company, Theatre Couture and in Kate Bornstein’s Hidden:A Gender at PS 122. Also included in his repertoire are several international tours and a CD as Pantychrist, a collaboration with San Francisco noise musician Bob Ostertag and Tokyo DJ Otomo Yoshide, a Kiki and Herb CD, Do You Hear What We Hear? And numerous appearances at Joe’s Pub & New York’s Public Theater with his band Justin Bond and the Freudian Slippers. Television and film work includes: “Late Nite With Conan O’Brien,” the feature film Fancy’s Persuasion directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and the award-winning video Kiki and Herb: Total Eclipse of the Heart. Throughout a career that has been dedicated to the exploration of queer performance, Ms. Bond is proud to have appeared non-stop in some of the dirtiest, most shameful nightclubs in the world! He graduated with a B.F.A. in acting from Adelphi University’s and received classical training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Kenny Mellman (Herb) Kenny has been the co-creator and musical director of Kiki & Herb for the better part of a decade. His work with Justin Bond included the 2001 Obie-winning Jesus Wept (Fez Club, NYC), There’s a Stranger in the Manger (Westbeth Theater Center, NYC), which won a 2002 HX Award and Pardon Our Appearance (Soho Theatre, London). He has been nominated for a 2003 Helen Hayes award for Outstanding Supporting Performer for his work in Pardon Our Appearance (Wholly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington DC). His other theatrical credits include the part of Georgia O’Keefe in John Kelly’s Paved Paradise (Josie’s Cabaret, San Francisco: Highways, Los Angeles; the Library, Manchester U.K.), and his
solo show Countdown (Fez Club, NYC). He has performed with the Three Terrors (Stephen Merrett, LD Beghtol and Dudley Klute) at both the Knitting Factory and the Bowery Ballroom in New York City and can be heard accompanying Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) on Stephen Merritt’s 6th Album, Hyacinths and Thistles. Kenny would like to thank his Mom and Dad for their constant love and support, Doug Wright for his dramaturgy and his kindness and Roland Pearman for his much needed tough love.
