As we just crowned a new queen on All-Stars 6, let’s take a look back at some of our favorite Snatch Game performances! This list will only contain performances from the US versions (RPDR and All-Stars), we will save the international versions for another list. Queens are presented in alphabetical order. Did your favorite Snatch Game performance make the list? Here we go…
ALASKA as MAE WEST – The All-Stars 2 winner won Snatch Game tearing the roof off the joint with her portrayal of Mae West. Even viewers who had no reference for Mae West knew exactly who she was at the end of the game. Telling guest judge and drag race fave Jujubee “I’ve seen you at the free clinic!” HA. Her interactions with Katya’s Bjork: genius! “How many bones do you want bubbles!” Volleying with RuPaul: hysterical! “What are you talking about, I beat around the bush all the time!” #legendary
AQUARIA as MELANIA TRUMP – The season 10 winner and lewk queen snagged herself a Snatch Game win few saw coming with her sendup of former FLOTUS Melania Trump. Handing RuPaul a Tiffany box “present” with a SAVE ME note inside started Aquaria off on a high note and she never let up. She had zinger after zinger plus all of her answers were political, timely and in sync with the questions asked. “Russian Hooker Urine” and “No wonder my husband hates China so much” were two of her best.
BENDELACREME as DAME MAGGIE SMITH – Both of Bendela’s performances were serious contenders for this list and Paul Lynde probably JUST missed out (plus we like to give other girls a chance!) Stealing the win from Bianca Del Rio was going to be near impossible but Bendela steamrolled the rest of the queens with her Maggie Smith. Guest judge Gillian Jacobs told her she had been repeating her “Excuse me! We originated the language” joke nonstop since she said it. She also killed it when she envisioned liquor flavored with “Citrus! Can you imagine that!!”
BIANCA DEL RIO as JUDGE JUDY – You had to know this one would make the list. Many have this performance at the top of their list of Snatch Game performances. For me, it’s definitely top 10, probably not five. Hear me out before you revoke my gay card! Bianca tore it up as Judge Judy but did not have enough material and enough interactions with the other queens to vault her into the top 5. There was also too much Bianca mixed in with her Judge Judy impersonation. Her “beauty fades, dumb is forever” read – an all-time classic!
BOB THE DRAG QUEEN as UZO ADUBA AND CAROL CHANNING – The only queen (until Nina West on season 12) to give fans TWO celeb impersonations during the game, the season 8 winner earned her place on this list and then some. Her lesbian-esque Adubo was good but her Carol Channing was laugh-out-loud funny. Just ask RuPaul, and if you make Mama laugh – you are good to go! “I haven’t taken anything stronger than Lipitor since 1986. You can’t get a good buzz off of that!”
CHAD MICHAELS as CHER – Obviously this performance from the first All-Stars winner was gonna make the list – you were waiting for it (and her photo appeared in the title bar! lol). The expectations for Cher impersonator Chad Michaels in season 4 were high and gurl delivered on all fronts. The first queen with multiple costume and wig changes during the Game clinched her win with the line “I don’t know why they book on these chicken shit gigs. I’m an Oscar winner!”
DENALI as JONATHAN VAN NESS – In another somewhat underrated performance Denali transformed herself into Queer Eye breakout star JVN! Expertly throwing in judge Carson Kressley’s past as part of the first Fab Five, Denali tells RuPaul, “I know this Carson Kressley character.” She also proclaimed herself “the gay Jesus” before telling a floundering Rue McClanahan (Elliot with two T’s) that fellow Fab Five Antoni had such a great butt, “you can flip him over and make a benedict!” (the line makes more sense and is funnier in context LOL.)
GIGI GOODE as MARIA THE ROBOT – The season 12 stunner (who just came out as Trans-nonbinary) secured one of her three wins in a row with this hilarious impersonation of a robot. Yes , robot. RuPaul had major misgivings during his workroom chat with Goode, and normally I would say “if Mama Ru does not like it, you change it.” However, Goode stuck to their guns and opened the Snatch Game up with “whats up bitch!” Her volleys with RuPaul were probably what sealed the win for them, especially their malfunctioning and rebooting.
GINGER MINJ as ADELE – Our beloved glamour toad who was “back, back, back again” on All-Stars 6, has given us three impressive Snatch Games. Her Phyllis Diller was another serious contender for this list. But it’s her Adele that vaults her into Snatch Game herstory. Choosing to play Adele as a somewhat ditzy drunk played off in spades as Ginger tied for the Snatch Game win in season 7. Ginger came prepared with props including awards, and food which she consumed nonstop. All of her answers landed: telling “Suze Orman”, “I love you, Justin Bieber,” to “So it’s not a very good song, I probably still won an award for it” had Rupaul in stitches. There are so many more we don’t have the space to write them all. #itsafakecigarette
JINX MONSOON as LITTLE EDIE – A bold decision to play someone some viewers might not have a reference for solidified a Snatch Game win for the eventual winner of the season. As stated above, you make RuPaul laugh, you are good to go and Jinx did that convincingly. Throwing a lifeline to the drowning Ivy Winters gave Jinx her best line of the night, “Quite the scandal…with my cousin actually (JFK), it was in all the papers at the time.”
KENNEDY DAVENPORT as LITTLE RICHARD – I wouldn’t call it a bold decision for Kennedy to play a male character in the Snatch Game, because I don’t think she realized she wasn’t “allowed” to bring a male celeb to the table. All was forgiven the minute she opened her mouth. Little Richard was hella flamboyant, but more important, really really funny! Comparing himself to Batman and Robin saying they all like a “bathhouse with dark rooms and gloryholes…” and giving the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz, “a tight screw because we all like a tight screw” nailed her a win, tied with Ginger’s Adele who Little Richard told “wrong note sugar!”
SHEA COULEE as FLAVOR FLAV – the All-Stars 5 winner continued her triumphant comeback arc with this now legendary impersonation. As always, male drag can be hit or miss with the judging panel but Coulee was hysterical from start to finish, even having fellow castmates like Blair St. Clair and Miz Cracker breaking character. Her volleying with Jujubee’s Eartha Kitt elevated both their performances.
SYMONE as HARRIET TUBMAN – A risky choice on paper Symone delivered as revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Each time RuPaul threw it to her she hit it out of the park, from stamping herself onto $100 dollar bills to hiding underneath the desk because she “saw all these white people and was getting nerrrrrrvous!” Favorite line – “I evaded the white man for yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs on the Underground Railroad.” How did she not land in the top 3 for this performance matched with her ‘Say Their Names’ runway.
TATIANNA as BRITNEY SPEARS – Like Denali, Tatianna transformed herself into Britney Spears complete with nervous tics, gum chewing and doe eyed naivety. She grabbed herself the first ever Snatch Game win with answers relevant to Britney and her chaotic life at the time of the episode being filmed.
TRINITY TAYLOR as CAITLYN JENNER – In All-Stars 4, they wisely rebooted the Snatch Game as the Snatch Game of Love, with 4 queens at a time vying for a date with an eligible bachelor. Trinity was miles ahead of every other queen with her Caitlyn Jenner perfecting her mannerisms and political views, telling guest celeb Gus Kenworthy he looked like a “poor democrat.” and “don’t touch me” when he went in for a hug! She also read Valentina’s boring Eartha Kitt, “I find you annoying.” Her real zinger landed on Naomi Small’s Wendy Williams who only took her wig off alone in her bathroom, “I feel sorry for that mirror.”
There you have it folks – 15 GREAT Snatch Game performances. Many great performances just missed a spot on this list and we considered doing HONORABLE MENTIONS, instead, we are saving those for another list! Who should we include in that list? Sound off in the comments below and tell us your favorite Snatch Game performance! {As always, keep the comments classy, we RPDR fans are a passionate bunch but hate speech will not be tolerated.}
**This post contains opinions of this writer and may not reflect those opinions of the magazine or other writers.
my favorite underrated snatch game is Pearl, she was so hilarious and it was so surprising considering she’d been painted as someone serious and boring up to that point.
also jsyk gigi goode uses she/her pronouns, not they/them!