Kyra Patterson
Murray and Peter presented Hater’s Roast: The Shady Tour at the Theatre Royal on the 6th of April. The show is a politically incorrect safe space to enjoy crude jokes about every taboo and controversy! Impact’s Kyra Patterson reviews.
The Shady Tour, a drag comedy extravaganza, is hosted by The Vivienne, who won season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Nine drag queens in total, the most loved RuPaul’s Drag Race stars from across the UK, the US and Canada, graced the Nottingham stage.
A disclaimer was made from the very beginning of the night, that the show would be packed with filthy, outrageous, and “cancellable” jokes. The Vivienne did an unmissable job as host. She shamelessly improvised harmless quips at a few audience members she had singled out, in a successful effort to warm the crowd up.
Her sweet tone switched effortlessly to fierce judgement as she read every single woman to pieces
The UK fan favourite, Baga Chipz, was the first to insult her fellow queens. As the oldest on stage, she played on the expectation of not being as well equipped for the roast. However, as it was intentional, she got a “baga laughs” from the audience anyway! Baga Chipz was just the right warm-up act before the real offensive jokes were fired.
Next up was Season 13 runner-up, Kandy Muse, who violated every Queen and any rumour or controversy they had been involved in. Albeit the shortest performance of the nine, her fun American spirit and reactions to the other Queens’ jokes made her memorable to all. The other Queens also rang their bells frequently throughout her set.
The third Queen to perform hails from Canada and donned such enormous cleavage that it made the perfect material to ridicule! Jimbo made several fat jokes targeted at Kandy and Lawrence, as expected. I found it more entertaining when we got to the jokes made about Jimbo herself; her well-known blackface scandal was displayed on the screen and multiple Queens took jabs at this throughout the night.
Her stage presence was impeccable as she confidently addressed the previous jabs
My favourite act of the night goes to Heidi N Closet, who looked the epitome of Audrey Hepburn in the first act, black gloves and all. Her sweet tone switched effortlessly to fierce judgement as she read every single woman to pieces. Even though she is a North Carolinian, she made several references to British opinions, which touched the audience more. I especially enjoyed her fun improvisation onstage with the cast; it proved that performing comes very naturally to her and I was in awe of her ability to be hilariously witty and honest in the same breath.
The last performance of the first act came from the infamously disqualified Willam. Her hatred for RuPaul was an easy jab for the other Queens to make, yet Willam strutted on stage with an IKEA bag full of props ready as weapons to torture her castmates. She began with a self-deprecating monologue about her lack of work after the show which had the audience in fits. Her raw humour was just what was needed to close the first half of the show.
Act two began with an excellent costume change from all nine drag queens. The All-Stars Season 4 winner, Trinity the Tuck, was next up and she arguably stole the show with the remark that Kandy Muse reminded her of Harvey Price. Her stage presence was impeccable, as she confidently addressed the previous jabs at her incestuous Southern American family.
Her hysterical takes on pronouns, men and STDs had the audience roaring.
After came Lawrence Chaney, who had taken the brunt of the majority of weight jokes throughout the night. Her ability to laugh at loud at others translated to her own set as she fed off of the narrative that she overeats.
New York City Queen Miz Cracker also fed into the endless Jewish jokes her peers made. She even reassured the audience that it was okay to laugh!
To close the show, The Vivienne confirmed why she was the host of The Shady Tour. Her last performance was the ultimate show of political incorrectness, swearing, and insult. She made light of her drug abuse and recent split from her husband. Her hysterical takes on pronouns, men and STDs had the audience roaring.
The Hater’s Roast was a fantastic relief from the world’s events and made light of all the things people are too scared to say.
Kyra Patterson
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image courtesy of @royalnottingham via Instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
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