Drag Race icons BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon serve surreal, subversive holiday fun
Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. (Jiji Lee)
The Return of the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show, Live, reviewed.
Here’s the thing – I’m not a Christmas gay. The day itself is great, I pray at the altar of St Mariah year-round, but for the most part, I can take a hard pass on anything “festive”.
So why, you might be asking yourself, did I agree to review The Return of the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show, Live? Aside from the chance to see two of the world’s finest live drag performers, I figured that if anybody could make me a convert, it’d be Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. And did they?
In a word, no. But actually, I learned, that’s not the point. You see, like me, Jinkx Monsoon sees through the entire Santa con – the forced fun, the screeching capitalism, the fact that Father Christmas is kind of a d**k. She’s the perfect foil to DeLa’s over-the-top wholesome (but incredibly knowing), camp as a Christmas topper shtick. Throughout the show, the pair trade musical numbers arguing for and against the holidays, coming together for an irreverent, often surreal set that, at two full hours, still manages to leave you wanting more.
It’s camp, it’s crass, it’s the pinnacle of festive fun and a rallying cry for the destruction of capitalism all in one, delivered with aplomb.
The Return of the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show, Live plays in Birmingham, England on 23 November before continuing in Canada and the US throughout November and December.
Tickets for Portland, Boston, New York, Denver, Phoenix and Seattle are available from Ticketmaster and Detroit from Ticketweb. The other dates can be bought from the website here.
