Birdy made her way to Hootenannies at the Apex Hotel, Grassmarket, to see her second drag show of the Fringe; Cloud 9! And it was a heavenly performance from all involved.
NOTE: Since this was the first real day of Fringe, and as the act pointed out multiple times, this really counts as a preview show – so I’m going to treat it as such.
Anyone who knows me knows I love a good drag performance, so I was really looking forward to Cloud 9, which was one of the first shows I booked via the media portal this year.
Once I’ve gotten past the lack of signage at the Apex Hotel, and was directed by who I believe was Tianah Tucker’s dad to the right room, I got settled in for what looked to be a wonderful show from Skinny Minnie, Slutdrop Sally, Tianah Tucker and Rome Mosaic!
And it had all the makings of one, in terms of heavenly drag performances, luscious vocals, fantoosh outfits and some surprisingly great acrobatics! There were cartwheels, flips and death drops galore, which I really hadn’t been expecting – and that made it all the more jaw dropping when it did happen.
These ladies have been performing together for around a year now, and they have great chemistry on stage.
A few little kinks
Unfortunately, due to it really being Day 1 of the Fringe for these fab four – which admittedly, they kept explaining was like a dress rehearsal – there were hiccups along the way.
Mic malfunctions, quick-change issues, a song order glitch and lack of their intended backdrop all took away from the show a little – but not to a distracting amount. As I said, it was a preview show, and it’s only to be expected.
Who doesn’t have their kinks, anyway, am I right?!
Big audience love
HOWEVER, the audience really got into the spirit of the whole thing, and so I did, too. The highlights for me were the Powderpuff Girls performance, Skinny Minnie’s Toxic lip sync and Banana bit, Slutjob Sally’s vocals (especially the medley number, which was really fun), Tianah Tucker in that leather number, and Rome Mosaic just being generally kickass with the Doctor Jones track and whole medical bit.
The performance itself was smooth and well-rehearsed, and had all the core elements of the type of drag show I love. I think you buy a ticket in the coming days, you absolutely won’t regret seeing Cloud 9.
Comedy chops
Skinny Minnie brought the comedy big time, and some of the faces she pulled as the banana were hilarious. I really love that the show was able to poke fun at itself, and by the end of the show, the entire audience was on board with these gorgeous queens.
Overall
Overall I had a really good time at Cloud 9, definitely ended my night on a high, and I feel bad for writing this review so early on in the Fringe, as I know that even with just a few more performances under their belts and all their issues ironed out, their star rating would likely increase further.
All in all, a fun, memorable and diverse show for anyone who loves drag!
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