- Pride in London Walkthrough – 2014 - 12 June, 2014
- Review: The Meth Lab Ball featuring Michelle Visage - 4 June, 2014
- Vada’s Queer Agenda: Dates for the Diary – June - 31 May, 2014
Photo by Gareth Dutton
The Save Rubyyy Jones Revue was back again this week, fresh off the back of the Familyyy Fierce’s appearance on London Live’s much tweeted about show Drag Queens of London. This time, they were bringing ‘Double Trrrouble’ to the trusty old Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The idea of the night was the acts going on in pairs, although being a somewhat queered evening of drag and cabaret, they came onstage as twosomes, threesomes and solo acts.
Naturally, that meant the go go acts warming up for the night essentially became x-rated dance offs between Miss Cairo and the other performers. There were a couple of moments where I wasn’t sure if the competitiveness was entirely just for show although the competition was heated up (literally) by Ruby Wednesday who poured an entire candle of hot wax over herself.
Photo by Gareth Dutton
What really works about the revue format Rubyyy Jones has going on is that it gives you the opportunity to see such a range alternative, artsy and a little bit educational performances in one of the most friendly environments on the scene I’ve been in. While there’s still a place for the old school more pantomime drag shows – namely at The Two Brewers – its refreshing to see a wide variety of talented young performers this side of East London.
Rubyyy kicked off the show by reminding us what she was capable of, displaying some true fierceness to the tune of her own song. She was back on the stage again with Lolo Brown later, with one of the most hilarious and passionate interpretations of a Katy Perry song.
Arguably, it was much more believable than the original ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it’.
Photo by Gareth Dutton
Sidenote: It’s fair to say that Bourgeoisie hasn’t received the best showing of it on the Drag Queens of London. This is largely down to the magic of editing. On stage, she more than earns her place in the Familyyy Fierce and is working it hard. Her performance on stage with Lady Tena was top notch, although the fretting grandma in me was a bit worried someone would trip on the wax that dripped off Ruby Wednesday’s torso earlier.
Photo by Gareth Dutton
Possibly one of the more shocking acts came from Meth and her daughters Ruby Wednesday and Lolo Brow. Seeing Lolo Brow snorting a condom up her nostril at a slightly alarming velocity just after hammering a nail up there set the act apart from your typical lip-synching drag show fare.
Meth was back onstage to round off the night with Lilly SnatchDragon with an edgy piece of racial satire. Toeing the line of what’s actually acceptable to laugh at to the soundtrack of Oliver and a bit of Meatloaf, it was great to see performances that dare to push the boundaries. Particularly when it involves dressing Miss Cairo as a British passport.
The Save Rubyyy Jones Revue will be back on Wednesday 11th June and the theme will be aptly, Drag Queens of London! Does that mean they’ll be getting Violet Sparks involved? Maybe she’ll be the one to finally save Rubyyy Jones.
We can but dream. As usual, the Revue will be at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, with advance tickets available to order here.
All images by Gareth Dutton – www.garethdutton.com
