Despite the fact that drag queens are meant to be funny and entertaining, their have been very few straight forward stand-up challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race, although there’s a very big reason for this: Stand-up is hard. If you don’t know how jokes work (as is the case for some queens) and you don’t know how to get the timing right (as it was for even more of the queens) you’re going to fall flat on your ass. So how’d the queens do? Well …
Alaska – Top 3
Pound for pound, Alaska may be the smartest queen this season. She’s not perfect, but on a season with some of the slowest girls in seasons, Alaska is probably the most cunning one there. She broke off of Rolaskatox the first chance she could get, her reading was fundamentally flawless, she wisely chose to go first (thus avoiding anyone saying she was stacking the deck while simultaneously ensuring she wouldn’t accidentally copy another joke) and her stand-up? Gorgeous. She set the pace for the night, which is exactly what you want to do when biting the bullet. That being said, as much as I liked her look, she needs to shake up the silhouette a bit, because it’s starting to look a bit samey.
Alyssa Edwards – Bottom 2
A couple weeks back, Alyssa said that America’s Next Drag Superstar wouldn’t be touring the country as a comedian. Oh, how that has come back to bite her in the ass. Look, we all knew Alyssa wasn’t really a comedic star (save for the make-up faces) but I don’t think any of us expected her to faceplant as hard as she did. The timing was off, the jokes were basically just her being mean, and at one point she either turned her microphone off or it took pity on her and shut itself off just to spare her. That being said, her lip synch was ridiculously fierce, and it kept her safe for another week.
Coco Montrese – Winner
All right, I’ll be the first to admit that playing a character was definitely a strong move. It let Coco mock RuPaul harder without it coming off as mean. That being said, was it the best? I wouldn’t go that far. It was definitely top three material, but I think her character was so across-the-board sassy that some of the jokes were drowned out. Seriously, listen to a pro do stand-up: There’s a flow and a rhythm to it that I just don’t think Coco really had. It was a great bit, but I wouldn’t say the best.
Detox – Safe
I originally had Detox as the most likely winner of this show, but… I feel like she’s fading. She’s a strong personality, but I get the feeling like she might just be coasting at this point. I think it’ll be a long time before she’s sent packing, but I’m just not sure anymore if she’ll be taking the crown. Her performance this week was good, if not great, although the f-bombs were a bit much. The f-bomb is called “The Comedian’s Little Helper” because a sprinkling of it makes the set better. Unfortunately, she kinda smothered her performance with it. If she had lightened up on it, she’d be in the top, but it just didn’t quite make it.
Ivy Winters – Safe
Here’s the problem I’m having with Ivy: I keep forgetting about her. Honestly, I wrote Jinkx’s review before Ivy’s because I completely forgot about her. She’s a really sweet girl, and at this point I kinda hope she makes the top 3, but I’m worried she’s melting into the background. Her performance this week was meh, as was the runway. And I kinda agree with Michelle, she should have left the gloves off.
Jinkx Monsoon – Top 3
Jinkx is easily the best stand-up on this or possibly any other season of Drag Race, and so far she stands the best chance of winning the competition. Thus far, she’s been in the top 3 every week save for the first two, and the edit she’s been getting is clearly making her the fan favourite. The only thing holding her back seems to be her look, but this week she hit it out of the park with a classy runway presentation and a killer comedy set. Honestly, she should have won, but Coco did pretty well too.
Roxxxy Andrews – Bottom 2
Before we say anything, we’d like to extend our condolences to Roxxxy over the death of her drag mother, Erica Andrews. I’m sure she meant a lot to you, and losing her must be devastating. That being said, her performance this week was kinda … lacking. Roxxxy may write off Jinkx as a “schtick” queen, but I think Roxxxy could stand to take a few notes from her. Roxxxy’s got a lot of talent and beauty, but I don’t think she has the creative spark necessary to make her the full package. That being said, THE LIP SYNCH. That was an amazing show she put on. Part of me was worried she was pulling a Milan, but it turns out she was hiding a second outfit and a second wig under it all? Amazing.