Following last year's hyper-successful To Jesus, Thanks For Everything, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are back with their new extravaganza: All I Want For Christmas Is Attention, and the show is a properly drag-tastic alternative Christmas treat.
Naughty jokes, the clash of traditional stereotypes, and the right dose of blasphemy are all wrapped up in red lamé and precise vocals. DeLa and Jinkx own their differences in comical vignettes, breaking down the spirit of the holidays and trying to persuade one another of the superiority of their celebrations.
Their Christian and Jewish backgrounds meet in powerhouse numbers that highlight their common quirks and coping mechanisms to get through family dinners and other occasions. The classic debacle that surrounds the festive greetings is given the place of honour, with the two bickering about the best inoffensive term to use. Catchy pop songs are revamped to suit the jubilant occasion too, with both Lorde and Katy Perry receiving uproarious edits.
The variety-led approach is fast-paced and the script is remarkably clever. Always coordinated and never identical in their outfits, the duo are glitzy presences and genuine entertainers. Their personality sparkle like their sequins, and bare American humour coexists with their own brand of it. The addition of pre-recorded videos that allow them to carry out their costume changes off-stage is canny yet not entirely inventive.
The commercial skits are achingly funny, although some of them run slightly too long and their prosaic narrative becomes predictable by the second one. As a whole, the production holds lots of comedy gold, starting from a hilarious on-stage re-write to a revised version of "Exit, pursued by a bear". It's quick, silly, cheeky; innocuous in its insolence, it has big hair, big voices, and big boobages too. All I Want For Christmas Is Attention is that gaudy present we all wish we'd find under the tree.
BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are taking their tour to Glasgow on 3 December before continuing in North America throughout December.
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