Last night we were one of many at the Birmingham sold-out date of KLUB KIDS UK’s Queens Of Comedy Extravaganza Tour 2017. Presenting the show was Bianca Del Rio, who won the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, whilst we were gifted with sets from Jackie Beat, Charlie Hides, Lady Bunny, Katya, and Alyssa Edwards. A trio of dancers, called House of Decay, was an incredible interval and opening act.
The eight-date tour started in Dublin on 31 August 2017 and will end on 10 September in Newcastle. Most of the dates were sold out, showing how popular this tour is. There are only three dates to go, with Newcastle the only one that isn’t sold out. We cannot recommend the show enough, as this review will prove, so buy tickets now, while you still can.
Doors opened at 8pm and the queue was as far as we could see; what did we expect since it was sold out? Luckily we arrived at around 7pm so we weren’t too far from the front. We were, however, extremely wet because as we were making our way there a heavy rain storm drenched us; the things we do to make sure we’re not at the back of a queue.
Inside, we found the cloak room and dropped off our coat to dry – it was still wet by the end of the show – found the merch table, and found a nice spot not too far from the stage.
The event organiser, Andrew Hoyle, kick started the show, by welcoming everyone and introducing the House of Decay, who opened the show with some killer choreography; and then he introduced our presenter for the night.
Bianca Del Rio
We aren’t going to lie, Bianca Del Rio was one of the main reasons we bought tickets to this tour; and she was better than we expected. She had us in fits of laughter from the minute she came on to the stage.
She was the perfect presenter, well not the nicest but that’s what makes Bianca Del Rio a total star presenter; not only did she read every single act, she even called people out of the audience for using their phones to record the show! This is exactly what we came to see, and we loved every minute of it.
Yet, her stand out moment was at the end with Alyssa Edwards as they had a comical argument on stage that was everything you wanted and more; oh why did it have to end?
She may not have had a set to herself, but she shined in between each act. She even had a costume change halfway through, gracing us with two stunning looks overall. A total stand out from last night, she was a total worthy winner on RuPaul’s Drag Race season six; she was also the only winner on this tour – which she didn’t forget to mention whilst she was on stage.
We totally hope we get the chance to see her live again; we are aware that she will be returning to the UK on her very own tour in 2018. Hopefully, we will be attending.
Jackie Beat
The first comedy set came from Jackie Beat, who was a recent replacement for BenDeLaCreme. She came on stage and gave a few jokes before launching into a rap song because she totally looks like a rapper; yet, she surprised us all with live vocals and brilliant lyrics.
She may have been the one act that people didn’t come to see, but she turned all attention on her by the end of her set. Impressing us all easily and really putting her stamp on this tour, Jackie Beat is one drag queen we’d totally see again. Her set was just slightly too short for our liking; regardless, she gave it her all and we hope to see her again.
Charlie Hides
From season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Charlie Hides graced the stage. She unleashed a full set of jokes that may have been long-winded but totally had us in hysterics. Apparently there’s a lot of petitions online because of some of the jokes she cracked on previous dates of this tour, but we loved every single one of them; besides, who comes to a drag race show and gets offended by the jokes? Seriously?
To end her set she sang one of the catchiest audience-involved songs we’ve heard in a while. Why has it not been released yet? We want a full on single release, with remixes, and a brilliant music video too; surely you can find the time to do that Charlie Hides. We can only presume the song is called: “I Don’t Care If You Think I’m A Bitch, As Long As You Think I’m Thin”. That is one song we need in our lives. For now, we’ll just have to see her live again and hope she sings it.
Lady Bunny
We’re still in shock that we managed to see the legend that is Lady Bunny. She’s one of the biggest drag queens in the world and one of RuPaul’s best friends, one we all never thought we’d have an opportunity to see, and yet, there she was, on stage, giving it her all.
As per usual, her set involved parodies of well-known songs. It contained explicit lyrics that had us laughing all the way through. She was a buzz of energy on stage, which she unleashed out to the crowd.
Katya
Now Katya was the youngest drag performer on the stage last night, to which she said is unusual when it comes to drag tours. She fully brought the fun, by doing flips and splits up on the stage. Talk about entertaining.
She appeared on season seven of RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she came fifth and was voted Miss Congeniality. She returned for All Stars season two, where she came third. On stage, she sang a version of “Read U Wrote U” which she sang with the other three finalists on All Stars.
Alyssa Edwards
What an entrance, Alyssa Edwards stormed on stage before Bianca Del Rio had finished introducing her; preventing the presenter from reading her. This turned into the comedic argument we lived for.
During her set, she asked the question we were all thinking: “Why is Alyssa Edwards in a comedy show?” Well, she proved that she deserved to be there as she had some of the best comebacks to Bianca Del Rio. Talk about a perfect double-act.
Since she is a pageant queen, Bianca Del Rio turned the last half an hour into a pageant-style contest. It didn’t exactly go smoothly, but we expected that since Bianca Del Rio had us laughing all the way through; yet it worked and Alyssa Edwards gave a brilliant performance. Her dancing skills were off the charts. Talk about fierce!
As a whole, the Queens of Comedy Extravaganza was a show we will never forget. KLUB KIDS UK pulled it off perfectly. We’re just disappointed we didn’t go to the after-party at the Nightingale Club, where Pearl performed.
We so hope this lineup makes a return to the UK in the future, as we’d love to see all six drag queens again. All six impressed and shined on stage; we cannot wait for the next KLUB KIDS UK event which will be the Twisted Circus in 2018.