Drag vs burlesque

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Myra DuBois and Kiki Kaboom slug it out as cabaret’s two biggest scenes face off

Seconds out… Like oil and water, cats and dogs or Pimm’s and Irn-Bru, burlesque and drag don’t really mix: partisans of cabaret’s two biggest scenes accuse each other of everything from pretension to wearing last year’s animal print. But we love both so we were delighted to hear Myra DuBois had invited Kiki Kaboom to her new scratch night, ‘Alive! At the RVT!’. Ahead of the show – which may or may not involve actual brawling depending on consumption of bubbly wine and cider – Ben Walters engineered a bout with a pout…

Ed Marshall

Watch Kiki and Myra face off



Kiki Kaboom

Ed Marshall

Nickname: K to the A to the B to the O to the O to the O to the O to the M to the yeah boiiiiii!

Weight category: Rude!

Secret weapon as a fighter: I can see through time.

Achilles heel: Total lack of spatial awareness. Have been known to punch myself in the mouth.

Why you would fight to the death for burlesque: I won’t need to. I have a glitter gun.

Why you hate drag: Drag is a grotesque expectation of what women should look like via the male gaze.

What you secretly admire about Myra: The lip curl. The acid tongue. And the bitch has waaaaay better hair.

Myra Dubois

Ed Marshall

Nickname: I choose ‘Myra DuBois’.

Weight category: I don't know what this means but it strikes me as personal.

Secret weapon as a fighter: Low standards. I’m not afraid to pull hair.

Achilles heel: None. I have no faults. Except arrogance.

Why you would fight to the death for drag: I wouldn’t. I’d go and work in Marks & Spencer if absolutely necessary.

Why you hate burlesque: Burlesque is a grotesque expectation of what women should look like via the male gaze.

What you secretly admire about Kiki: She does one hell of a Judy Garland impersonation, and she can knock back the whiskey.

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