Malin moved on stage and amongst the audience members as an elegant, witty, wisecracking emcee, affecting a broad exaggerated swishing image associated with the "Pansy acts" that followed. In doing so, Malin and other such performers as Karyl Norman and Ray Bourbon ignited a "Pansy Craze" in New York's speakeasies and later in other cities as well. (He once punched a disruptive patron during a performance, prompting Ed Sullivan to write, "Jean Malin belted a heckler last night at one of the local clubs. All that twitters isn't pansy.") One theatrical publication, "Broadway Brevities", declared "the pansies hailed La Malin as their queen", and "Vanity Fair" magazine published a caricature of the celebrated Malin in 1931. Among his fans was actress Ginger Rogers, and he was the frequent escort of actress Polly Moran.