The Gin Whore
The Gin Who?
Yes, my name is Kate O'Neil and I am The Gin Whore. Having spent over fifteen years working in the drinks industry serving cocktails to everyone from Jeremy Kyle, the Rolling Stones and even the odd Prime Minister, The Gin Whore is my nom de plume.
The Gin Whore, at the Geffrye Museum
I actually studied calligraphy and heraldic art (pretty much studied to be a modern day monk) however I decided there weren't enough cocktails involved, so in 2002 I started a mobile cocktail bar service (one of the first in the UK).
Very soon I was catering for the Rolling Stones, for parties at Downing Street, and thousands of corporate events. Hosted tasting events for team-building nights, with our team eventually training over 45,000 guests.
A few years ago, I was booked to talk at an event in Scotland & happened to meet Brooke Magnanti AKA Belle de Jour - who has experimented with making her own gin. I began researching the links between gin and prostitution before launching a one woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Touring festivals and events The Gin Whore is my 'dirty-little-not-so-secret', which allows me to explore my real calling. Now I'm not calling myself a traditional 'whore' (although, what I do in my own time is, a-hem, my business) however my day job is to promote various gins whoring myself out to brands, my passion is educating and entertaining guests about all things juniper.
As a member of Equity, my show is a theatrical characterisation, narrating the horrible history of everything Gin. Throughout my 90 minute one woman show, my guests will enjoy sampling 4 taster gins, along with tonic of course. I promise you will enjoy a few laughs too!
Risque?
Absolutely, however I constantly remind my poor dear Mother, it IS all grounded in historical fact.
At the height of the Gin Craze in 1750 in London, 1 in 4 women prostituted themselves to fuel their gin addiction. The many links between harlots and hooch are well documented and in the show we'll explore these somewhat gruesome tales.
Gin's origins lie in Genever, which originated in Holland in 1572, when Professor Sylvius de Bouvre, an alchemist from Leiden University was trying to create a cure for stomach complaints using the duiretic properties of juniper berries. He added juniper oil to malt wine, which he named Genever, and it soon became a popular alcoholic elixir.
If you want to find out more about the journey of Genever to Gin, and to how it became associated with prostitution, then come along to one of my many shows.
Every guest gets a Gin Goody bag, with four gins from different styles, a variety of tonics, and walk away with a professional crystal tasting glass, and amusing, historical gin whore postcards.
Reviews
I was so lucky to befriend the beautiful real life 'Belle de Jour', I couldn't have asked for a better review:
"Hilarious & charming the Gin Whore takes spirits appreciation to new levels of enjoyment. Arguably the most fun you can have with a full glass in your hand".
Dr Brooke Magnanti AKA Belle de Jour
I've also been lucky enough to have some fantastic reviews from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival:
"Light-hearted, humourous & highly entertaining little gin juant... Bold as a beefeater, gutsy as gunpowder, cool as an ice-berg and happy as a hawker, Kate did a diamond delivery"
Richard Beck, Broadway Baby
Full review here
I don't want to give away too much away about what to expect when you attend one of my shows -as I would much rather you attend!
The Gin Whore Tour dates and how to buy tickets are as follows:-