PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I love finding new traditions to celebrate the holidays…especially when these traditions aren’t your average tree lighting or community parade. My latest “must do” for the most wonderful time of the year is see drag superstars BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon in their annual production, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show.
Solely written by these two queens, the stage show tours across the US, UK and Canada, and is currently celebrating its fifth anniversary (in addition to the film, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special, which premiered on Hulu in 2020 during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic). Each production typically centers around a similar concept: the ever-bubbly DeLa tries to get cynical Jinkx into the Christmas spirit. And usually, there’s some sort of inanimate object or alcoholic beverage that takes on an over-the-top personality.
Yet for 2023, DeLa and Jinkx didn’t want audiences to see them at odds with each other. According to them, there’s enough contention in the real world, that they didn’t want to add to it on stage. This time around, DeLa and Jinkx must team up and battle their own holiday show, which takes on a life of its own. After numerous years entertaining the masses, the duo just wants a vacation this season. However, their creation isn’t having any of that, and goes to great lengths — including possession — to ensure the show goes on.
“With all the hatred, darkness and misinformation flying around our world today, it is an honor and a privilege to spend the holidays with tens of thousands of audience members each year, creating joyous community spaces where we can gather strength through laughter and celebration,” said DeLa, who became a fan-favorite on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6 and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3. “Whether you consider it the most wonderful time of year or the most troubling, we’re here to tell you, you’re right! So let’s make it our own.”
From start to finish, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, which I saw at Philadelphia’s Miller Theater, is chock-full of campy comedy, eye-grabbing costumes and earworm-inducing original songs, including “Cuppa Cocoa,” “Everyone Is Traumatized By Christmas” and “Santa-Clausa-Da-Vida,” which, as its name suggests, is sung to the tune of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly.
My personal favorite number featured a special appearance by Krampus, who Jinkx takes an instant liking to. During the song “Krampus Baby,” performed to the melody of “Santa Baby,” Jinkx ends up becoming possessed by the anthropomorphic figure from European folklore that punishes children who misbehave at Christmas. Basically, Krampus is another strategy of the self-thinking holiday show to entrap the two performers within it for eternity.
The storyline of this production — Jinkx and DeLa trying to escape their own holiday show while putting on a holiday show — was truly ingenious and very meta. It lends itself to a number of laugh-out-loud moments and shocking plot twists right up until the last minute.
Additionally, this plotline is a humorous way to say that Jinkx and DeLa are truly stuck with this show for the foreseeable future, but that’s OK with them. It brings joy and laughter to individuals hailing from all walks of life, many of whom might not look forward to this time of year for a variety of reasons. This holiday show is something that they created some time ago, under director/producer DeLa’s production company BenDeLaCreme Presents, to tell a drag story from the perspective of two individuals who are actually in the LGBTQ+ community — something that doesn’t always happen. Now, just like on stage, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show has taken on a life of its own, bringing smiles and sexy Krampuses to the masses in its biggest international run to date.
“It’s been a wild year, so let’s end it wildly,” said Jinkx, who won both RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 7. “DeLa and I strive to entertain while we enlighten and enliven. The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is not only a moment of respite, but also of community, at a time where we need our chosen family and community most of all. So add us to your holiday plans, or let us BE your holiday plans — either way, you’re welcome to join us.”
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show runs through Dec. 30. There will be a special livestream of the Dec. 21 Seattle show, with more information available here. Visit jinkxanddela.com for more information.
Photos by Santiago Felipe
