Comedy Queens 2019

Last night I headed to 170 Russell to catch this year's Comedy Queens tour, which was a mix of queens from Australia, RuPaul's Drag Race, and a couple iconic drag pioneers. Local favorite Karen From Finance opened the evening with a medley around names and also MC'd the show throughout the night. Next was Australian legend Trevor Ashley, who spoke about her stage career and life, and sang a song about all the famous Aussies she's been with.

The drag icon Miss Coco Peru then hit the stage and did a stand up set with stories about growing up gay in the US, and also sang a parody song to Frank Sinatra's "That's Life." Next up were two stars from RuPaul's Drag Race and the hosts of the fantastic podcast Race Chaser Willam and Alaska Thunderfuck. Willam did some funny jokes, called out audience members trying to take photos from bad angles, and then did his Britney Spears parody to "Oops!... I Did It Again" about fellow queen and Britney impersonator Derrick Barry. Alaska was next on stage in a leopard print outfit, questioning why she was on the tour since she considers herself a glamour queen. Alaska took out her glasses and did some library reads, and then invited an audience member up to sing along with her to her new song "Walking Into The Club."

After a short intermission the legendary Jackie Beat hit the stage. She did a set of stand up and had a great punchline about wearing flats because her feet are tired from paving the way for everyone else. She also sang two parody songs, including one to Jennifer Holiday's "You're Gonna Love Me." The show then took a strange turn when Vanessa Vanjie Mateo from seasons 10 and 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race came out and didn’t really do much except wander around the stage and the front of the crowd as she dedicated Taylor Swift’s "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to her ex and fellow season 11 contestant Brooke Lynn Hytes. Karen From Finance had to pop out on stage to keep things moving as Vanjie got a couple guys from the crowd up for a twerking contest.

Thankfully season 8 winner Bob The Drag Queen was up next and just mastered the crowd with a hilarious stand up routine that touched on many topics, including White Night, RuPaul's Drag Race, and the things that are shared between straight girls and their gay friends. Bob also did lip sync mashup around how to detect guys who are cheating. We were then treated to a joint performance by Willam and Alaska of their parody of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" called "A Lacefront Like This" that included several wig reveals and a name-check of Sydney's own Wigs By Vanity.

The show finished with everyone coming back out on stage one by one to RuPaul's "Sissy That Walk" for a final bow. I thought this year's show was much better run to time than last year's, and I love that this tour features such a diverse range of queens, many of whom you wouldn't otherwise get to see in Australia.

Comedy Queens 2018

Last night I was fortunate enough to get to see the sold out Comedy Queens 2018 Australian tour at 170 Russell. The show was hosted by Australia's Maxi Shield and featured American drag queen legends and newer queens from different seasons of Ru Paul's Drag Race doing a mix of comedy, songs and lip syncs. The three legendary drag performers on the bill Lady Bunny, Sherry Vine and Jackie Beat each took turns performing stand-up and their own parody songs. My favorite was Sherry and Jackie's duet of "I Got You Bitch" (sung to Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe").

The two Season 10 girls Monet X Change and Monique Heart each gave really high energy lip sync performances. Monet also had a funny stand-up set, and gave a shout out to a girl in the crowd who created her own sponge dress. Ginger Minj from Season 7 and All Stars 2 did a stand-up set, which unfortunately fell a bit flat with the crowd, as well as a great telephone-themed lip sync mash-up based around Adele's "Hello." Even with the technical difficulty of her track dropping out in the last 30 seconds, the crowd clapped along so she could sing and finish the performance.

The other Season 7 queen and All Stars 3 winner on the bill was my favorite skinny legend Trixie Mattel. Trixie, who was celebrating her 29th birthday, had a tight set of comedy and music. She sang a mix of her own material and mash-up covers of Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er Boi" and Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," alongside Oasis' "Wonderwall" and a hint of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" for all the white people in the crowd. Trixie was so funny and you can tell all her time on the road has made her such a fantastic and engaging performer.

This was also my first time getting to see another favorite of mine, Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon. She sang a fantastic cabaret version of Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" and then did a whole set about being a high functioning alcoholic and slut, and the influence of different Disney films on sexual preferences. Overall it was an entertaining but long three hour show, which I'm sure will tighten up as they do the other two shows of the tour in Sydney and Brisbane this weekend.