Bob The Drag Queen (né Caldwell Tidicue) is a very very funny man. And according to this new Stand Up Show that he produced and starred in, he is also an SLW : a Suspiciously Large Woman standing some 6 ‘2 ” before he climbs into a lethal looking pair of high heels. The 31 year old still seems slightly in awe of the fact that he is the Season 8 winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race after defeating a particular tough crowd of contestants to win the crown. His rapid-fire wit is one of the reasons that he won, and so it really is no surprise to know that he is a very good stand up comedian, but the shock is that he is actually one of the best that we have watched for years.
In this show filmed before a live audience in his home town of Atlanta this debut Comedy Special Bob TDG takes aim at the whole subject of being Black in America with wonderful self-deprecating humor that is topically edgy but never ever caustic. Nothing is sacred to him or escapes his sharp tongue whether it be Beyonce who he professes he adores, but still throws shade by implying that she is so self obsessed that she never even knew that Michelle Williams was a member of Destiny’s Child.
He adores Ru Paul who he says at 54 years old looks far better than his mother who is the same age, and he also claims to love Payless shoestores too. They have very big sizes and very little security. His routine on gay men trying to hook up is hysterically funny, so too is his example of how easy they can have a complete conversation with just different intonations of one word : Gurl!
In his hour long routine Bob is very comfortable and at ease with both himself and his audience which is so evident as he confidently puts his remarkable and natural talent to good use in getting the audience eating out of his hands. Even, or especially, the straight women in the audience who he informs that the best thing they can learn from their gay male friends is not fashion sense, or their caustic wit, but their technique in giving a good blow job. A procedure that he claims, is very similar to eating spicy buffalo wings.
There is a very personal touch to the performance when he introduces his family who are in the audience. They include his father who he hasn’t seen for 10 years and who has never seen ‘Bob’ perform, but you can easily see from all their expressions, that he will be a fan from now on.
So too will we. When someone as original as Bob TDQ can have you rolling in the aisles laughing without ever having to resort to humiliating audience members or cruel character assassinations then it is a sheer joy. Well, he did pick on Melania Trump slightly, but that doesn’t really count.
