Writers: BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon
Director: BenDeLaCreme
Christmas has arrived! Forget the Oxford Street lights, the shelves full of mince pies, or the incessant festive muzak; the new herald of the holiday season is the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show.
In a little over five years this pairing of Drag Race alumni have made Christmas their own. Three previous live holiday shows and a festive TV special have firmly placed them at the heart of Christmas celebrations. And what better way to cement their place in the Christmas entertainment cannon than have the world premiere of their latest show at the prestigious London Palladium.
Reflecting on the past 12 months, our ladies, depressed with the state of the world today, believe that something they did in years gone by may have resulted in making 2022 the worst Christmas ever. But determined to make this year the best Christmas ever, DeLa convinces Jinkx to join her on a journey into the past to correct whatever error they may have committed.
From this premise we are taken on journey through their supposed history courtesy of a narrative that borrows heavily from A Christmas Carol and Back To The Future. We visit key historical Jinkx & DeLa holiday shows over the past 50 years (yes, there’s a degree of artistic license used) where we get to see the dynamic duo perform their take on a key song from that year. However, with Jinkx and DeLa, the songs are not as you expect. In their trademark fashion, they take popular songs and reinterpret them with their own lyrics. So we get the story of Santa Claus to the tune of I will Survive, the birth of Christ to Don’t Stop Believing, and even an introduction to Judaism to Here Comes The Hotstepper.
The time-travel narrative is as flimsy as you can imagine, but that’s not the point. This is a comedy drag show and, as such, it delivers in spades. At the heart of this is the pairing of DeLa and Jinkx. What’s very obvious is their deep friendship and this creates an infectious onstage chemistry. Both have incredible comic talent and whilst DeLa is far from the strongest singer (she smartly plays to her limited prowess), Jinkx has a powerful and flexible voice that just seems to fit to every genre thrown her way. Their writing is sharp and smartly observational, and seems significantly more polished than regular one-dimensional drag comedy.
More than this, the show also makes some very strong cultural, political and social statements. While DeLa is a ‘keep everyone happy’ and ‘don’t rock the boat’ character, Jinkx is the polar opposite. A firm atheist, she poses questions as to the validity of religion, the impact of our actions on the climate, the repetitive nature of culture, and the state of our leaders. This is still a drag comedy show, so you’re not going to get Noam Chomsky, but you are given pause for thought on these topics and, within this setting, they resonate more than they probably have the right to.
The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show is both a drag and comedy delight. Both stars are at the top of their writing and performing games and, even with a host of jibes on the crassness of Christmas and the folly of religion, still leave you joyous and full of the festive spirit. And, if that’s not enough to drive you to see this, then the prospect of seeing Jinkx sing about the life of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer to the tune of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has got to get you piqued.
Reviewed on 17 November. Tours UK, USA and Canada until 30 December 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Comical, Christmas campery.
