Last night on RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race the queens were still in dynamic duos and working on that suddenly appearing S in C-U-N-T-S. This time they had to stage a celebrity impersonation sketch comedy variety show. It was a laugh riot. Or not.
Before all that they were challenged to a little game called #inDaButtRu where they had to prove how well they knew their partners. Even down to the undies they wear out of drag! Rujubee wins and their prize: two creamy pies in the face.
For the main challenge it was RuPaul's Gaff-in Variety Show! Not only did they have to choose a celebrity to impersonate, they had do a comedy routine that played off their partners. I love this challenge and this is where the show really excels – however I didn't think anyone was that funny. Just me?
I love it when the queens have to really stretch and show off their comedic chops. Vicki Lawrence from Mama's House was the guest judge and she also starred in the comedy routines.
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The variety show featured three segments: Cocktail Party, Howdy Ru Segment, and the Wall of Jokes. Below are the celebrity impersonations:
Team Rujubee – Bea Arthur and Fran Drescher
Shad: Bette Davis and Lucille Ball
Latrilla: Madonna and Oprah
Brown Flowers: Tammy Faye Messner (aka Tammy Faye Baker) and Lupe
Yarlexis: Shakira and Charo
Almost immediately Brown Flowers is having issues. Sync is not working for them – and their celebrity impersonations were flat, flat, flat – flatter than their chests out of drag. Also having problems were Rujubee who struggled to actually write sketch comedy. Luckily they pulled it together nicely and I thought the Fran Drescher saved it for them. The laugh was really good – as was the voice – but the look was blah. It did not go far enough and it just read ordinary.
First up the queens have to film a Laugh-In style cocktail party with Mama. Latrilla was adorable and I thought they really nailed the Madonna bits. Manilla was hands-down the funniest queen last night, which is why the partners bit is sucking. Both Latrice and Manilla have great comedic instincts, but Manilla was phenomenal and should have won.
Manilla has really come far and his Madonna impersonation proved that. As a team Latrilla worked well together, and I totally got the Oprah impersonation Latrice was pulling for, but she could have seriously done so much more with it. The look was really weak too.
Same with Shad. Both Chad Michaels and Shannel are so concise and very intricate queens, but as partners I think they sort of stagnate each other becasue they are such perfectionists. And although some of the judges weren't impressed with Shannel's Lucille Ball impersonation, I thought the mannerisms were really good.
I also think Raven was really impeccable looking as Bea Arthur, but I agreed with the judges the voice was not working, it was Raven's regular old voice and it did not read as Bea. The jokes were pretty solid though.
Yarlexis was complerely carried by the Charo impersonation, which really was so freaking good! The hilarious 'Oopsie I snorted all the cocaine, didn't I?' routine in the RuRoom was extremely good.
The runway show was groovy sixties glam. Ooohhh… I love this time period! Chad Michaels was so impeccable it was almost too technically perfect, but I loved their little dance routine.
Brown Flowers confused me – particularly Tammie Brown. I don't think she stretched it enough and wound up looking like, well, Tammie Brown. It was sort of a mess. Also, their jokes were memorable for how boring they were, not for their comedic values. Tammie Brown is fantastic as Tammie Brown, but she did not carry this bit as Tammy Faye at all.
I adored Yarlexis. Although the judges were completely obsessed with Rujubee's 'Tupperwear Ladies' I thought it was boring and kinda meh. Also, really predictable. I was surprised it won such rave reviews. In the end Yarlexis won courtesy of the Charo impersonation.
And in the bottom two were unsurprisingly, Brown Flowers and surprisingly Latrilla! The Latrice and Tammie lipsynced for their lives to There's No Business Like Showbusiness. And bow down to High Drag. Seriously this is what this show should be polished, impeccable performers bringing it.
Both ladies were phenomenal and totally evoked the spirt of the song and the era. I loved Latrice's stage slide at the end. I was convinced Ru placed Latrilla in the bottom two so she could see Latrice's rendition of this number.
And unfortunately Brown Flowers sashayed away. I was disappointed. Nina and Tammie are both such strong performers and it's unfortunately we didn't get to see them progress through the competition. I really hope next week they ditch the teams element. I hate losing so many amazing queens each week. Bummer.
[Credit: LogoTV.com]
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