REVIEW - THE JINKX AND DELA HOLIDAY SHOW

‘Drag Race’ legends Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are back in town with their Christmas Extravaganza, The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show.

The duo has been touring their drag queen variety holiday shows for the past four years, produced by BenDeLaCreme Presents. The show is hitting up 4 cities in the UK and came to the London Palladium for one sold out night.

The show opened with Jinkx telling the audience that ‘this is an American show, full of American references and I don’t care if you get it, you’ll have to google it after the show’. Fortunately, this proved false, Jinkx did perform a short stand-up style set and a lot of the jokes here were more suited to an American audience. But most of the other jokes and gags in the show were things we could all understand and appreciate.

What I was delightfully surprised by, is that this show has a plot, albeit not a strong one, but that’s forgivable in this type of show. The two must time travel to Holiday Shows past and try to identify the mistake that needs fixing, to restore balance. As they travel back to the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s there are costume changes along the way. The costumes were stunning, each costume perfectly suited the decade we were then in, and I loved the festive touches throughout including poinsettias in their hair.

In the 80s there is a performance of the nativity story to Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, featuring the Virgin Mary in legwarmers! The lyrics of well-known songs are changed and parodied throughout the show, and this works wonderfully well and is hilarious.

Although the script was funny, and proves both queens have a talent for writing, the most hilarious moments were the ones that went off script, from a heckler shouting at Jinkx, with her explaining to the audience that ‘this is a scripted show and none of you have lines’ to both queens laughing uncontrollably and being unable to get through their lines at times. These moments were riotously funny!

The pre-recorded video of the duo time travelling was a welcomed touch that added to the storyline and provided hilarity. The dancers are fantastic, the entire show is very well choreographed, with no one missing a beat throughout.

Both DeLa and Jinkx are well established in the drag queen world, with Jinkx winning ‘All Stars’ this year, and it’s clear to see why they are so successful. Their chemistry together is electric, you can tell that they are great friends offstage as they work so well together, and both have incredible stage presence. I really wish this show was in London for much longer, it would be great to have some festive staging to elevate the show, and if they can sell out the Palladium – clearly the demand for a longer run is there.

A ticket to The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show should be at the top of your Christmas list. It’s one of the best drag shows I have seen this year. It’s camp, raucously fun and you are guaranteed to leave a smile on your face.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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