Carnegie Hall has played host to legends including Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Tony Bennett. They added another to that impressive list on Sunday, October 6, when drag icon Bianca Del Rio stormed their Midtown Manhattan stage.
Bianca (real name Roy Haylock) is the Joan Rivers of drag (in my honest opinion). She, just like the late comedy legend, is able to shock the hell out of each audience she plays with her R-rated humor that is not for the small-minded kind of crowd.
My adoration for Bianca goes beyond her time on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2014. She was a force to be reckoned with in New York City for years way before she made her reality television debut on the multiple Emmy award winning series.
Her winning season 6 wasn’t a surprise given the amount of talent she had in the areas of comedy, acting and fashion (hate all you want but her outfits were consistently fabulous). Bianca’s career has skyrocketed in the years since where she’s played her one-woman show all around the world to sold out audiences that come prepared for a wild night out.
Bianca’s latest set, which is part of her It’s Jester Joke tour, was no different as she once again excelled in showing off her comedy talents to an audience that were left screaming “OH MY GOD” several times throughout the evening.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka introduced Bianca before she came out. The 44-year-old had no opening act, which wasn’t surprising given the level that she’s at in her career currently. We didn’t need anything extra for what became something truly extraordinary to witness.
Bianca went after pretty much everyone with a brash and bold kind of persona that leaves people in stitches each time she dropped an inappropriate joke. Her unapologetic humor is one that is refreshing, at least from my standpoint, as we are living in a world where we are walking on eggshells with each opinion that leaves our lips.
The running theme to her show was that she would talk about one of her “best friends” while ragging on everyone from lesbians to heterosexuals to Asians and more. Her “best friend” in each fit within the story that she was telling that pretty much insulted that group of people. Heartwarming stories and touching Hallmark moments do not occur during Bianca’s set, trust and believe. Her goal is to offend, and she does it in the most deliciously amazing way that no one else is able to do.
It is full-on trashing everyone she can think of before walking off the stage to a standing ovation. And that, my friends, is awesome. For instance, she had a section about abortions where she brought up the usage of a wire hanger in many different scenarios. Shocking? Yes. Outrageous? Sure. Likely to cause an ignorant person to leave in a fit of hysterics? Duh. Amazing, incredible and jaw-dropping to hear, however? Abso-f***ing-lutely.
She also hilariously made fun of her fellow Drag Race alumni, notably Trixie Mattel, Latrice Royale and Jinkx Monsoon. Bianca slammed Trixie’s looks, poked fun at Latrice’s “gay” voice and pondered how Jinkx still has a career all this time later. As previously stated, no one is safe.
Bianca also did a Q&A at the end of the show where she suggested that a woman kill her husband who wasn’t being that much help in a portion of their marriage. This was done off the cuff, where her comedy and timing once again was amazing to watch. Get this woman her own television series ASAP please.
Thank you, Bianca, for a night this writer will truly not forget. Dates and tickets for her It’s Jester Joke tour can be seen here.
This post was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect the opinion of Instinct Magazine or the other Contributing Writers when it comes to this subject.