Ginger Johnson Blows Off 
https://www.pleasance.co.uk/
What do you do after realising all your dreams by winning Ru-Paul’s Drag Race UK in 2023? This is the question asked by the formidable Ginger Johnson (aka Donald Marshall) in Ginger Johnson Blows Off. Well, first of all you plan a show for Soho Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe.
For those unfamiliar with Ms. Johnson, she is an old fashioned gal, a redhead in a long line of female Hollywood legends, with the demeanour and attitude of a blousy pantomime dame.
She arrives on stage dressed in a voluptuous sparkly Evil Knievel jumpsuit. The brassy hair is huge and stiff. Her rapid rise to stardom seems to have gone to her head as she regales the audience with her fabulousness. She is louder and more manic than ever. Ginger has become a Diva!
What follows is a show where her new life goal after RUPDRUK is to become a daredevil, following in the footsteps of her childhood heroine, Zaza, a circus performer, who was fired from a canon into a net.
Ginger starts her journey with feats of courage, increasing in difficulty throughout the evening, and capturing a poor unsuspecting audience member to aid her in the process. (Don’t think you will be safe by avoiding the front two rows because Ginger climbs up the bleachers into the middle of the audience to find her assistant.)
Some of her most outrageously funny lines have to do with the probability of harm in a game of Russian Roulette. “One in five. The chances of finding an Edinburgh bus without a crack head on it.”
And there are songs. Not lip-synching but original live songs with witty lyrics. And of course the audience is encouraged to join in which it does enthusiastically.
I don’t think it would be stretching things too far to suggest that the basis of Ginger’s trajectory in this show is the Icarus myth? Pride comes before a fall. But any tasteful classical allusions are cryptic because to call this show trashy is a glowing understatement.
It is of course, wild, crazy fun with Ginger never stopping to catch her breath. The energy which she expends is evident in the growing number of sweat stains appearing on her costume. Maybe Sabrina Carpenter and Dolly Parton should ask Ginger for some make up tips because the tears of sweat running down her face had no effect at all on her slap.
After an explosive climax to the show, Ginger’s mask is removed, and a humble, genuinely appreciative Donald Marshall appears thanking the audience for their support, apologising for the lack of knob jokes and grateful for how far he has come in one year. Yes indeed, Donald, and judging from tonight’s audience reaction, there is a lot more to come.
Edinburgh Fringe
The Pleasance Courtyard Beyond
Daily at 6.40pm until August 26th
Labels: 2024, Blows It Off, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ginger Johnsom, review, Robert Malcolm, Soho Playhouse
