Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Pleasance Courtyard, Beyond
Playing August 9-11, 13-18, 20-24
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Newly adorned with a glistening sceptre, the current reigning queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK returns to the Fringe for her victory lap — but now, having achieved her dream of becoming the UK’s next drag superstar, Ginger Johnson is back with a new dream: becoming a death-defying daredevil.
It’s a smart premise that lends itself perfectly to a slickly-constructed hour of silliness, vulgarity, and lots of fun.
After greeting the audience and talking us through her whirlwind year since winning the reality competition show, Ginger tells us all about her dream of becoming a daredevil, inspired by a circus performer she enjoyed watching as a child. She then takes us through a series of stunts of increasing levels of absurdity, from chugging a can of Coke and scoffing some Mentos before jumping on a trampoline to being fired out of a canon (well, almost).
Now, in case you didn’t notice the name of this show, a word of warning: there are fart jokes a-plenty, so if that’s not your bag, this isn’t the show for you. I’m someone with a pretty juvenile sense of humour at times, and even I must admit that the hilarity of the fart sound effects wore thin fairly quickly.
But no matter the jokes she’s telling, Ginger delivers everything with such a camp charm that you can’t help but smile throughout.
We’re also treated to a couple of original songs that punctuate Ginger’s journey, showcasing the queen’s excellent live vocals. The performer truly is an all-round talent, and the whole show has real polish to it.
As well as brilliant comic timing when delivering the jokes in the script, Ginger also shines when interacting with the audience and dazzling us with her off-the-cuff wit.
A particular highlight is when she performs a genuinely quite frightening stunt featuring a Russian roulette of confetti canons — but one of them has a load of drawing pins inside.
With each canon she has fired at her, she helps the audience understand the gravitas of the situation by comparing the odds of finding the pin-loaded canon to something we can all relate to. For example, 2:1 odds are the same as “the chances of one member of Jedward just being called Edward”.
This blend of pop culture references, silly physical comedy, and bags of likability come together to make Ginger Johnson Blows Off! a delightful hour of Fringe fun.
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