Review: Colorful 'Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special' is Witty, Sacrilegious, and Bawdy

"The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special" comes to us in 2020, this apocalyptic never-ending year-from-hell, to entertain us with all the torment and ecstasy of the American holiday season. Whether or not you like Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, or finally getting the results of the American presidential election, two fabulous, witty queens will hopefully cheer you up in these, the end times.

In the grand showbiz tradition of musical holiday TV specials of the 1950s and '60s, the tunes mix together some of the traditional winter time hits as well as a lot of sound-alike music that fits to different genres in the contemporary songbook. While the overall tone of the special is wholesome, there are plot lines that deal with substance abuse, and some hokey violence as well as sexuality, so the littlest ones will need to sit this one out.

For viewers most familiar with Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme as two of the most witty and f�ted drag queens of "RuPaul's Drag Race," this collaboration comes as no surprise. Both DeLa and Jinkx have collaborated together on stage and screen, frequently offering a fun, boozy, and campy energy. Here, with gorgeous technicolor wardrobe, a colorful soundstage dressed with hilarious props, and a diverse chorus, they give off a dueling Joan Crawford and Bette Davis vibe that slides in and out of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" territory.

Sacrilegious and bawdy, the show itself feels very well suited for the theater, but instead of the stars having to riff to let the dancers change or the stagehands reset, the medium lends itself to transitions that a live web call or drive-through theater situation should envy. Thankfully, the soundtrack comes out in the same month, and has more than enough range both with topic and tone to cover all of the sturm und drang and, well, even the hum-drum predictability of the holiday season. Far from being just a series of hilarious music videos, the dialogue is also snappy, with both spoken jokes and visual jokes that give this special re-watch appeal since a lot can happen, and almost everything does, within the space of an hour.

"The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special" premiered on demand 12/1. Soundtrack to be released 12/11. jinkxanddela.com