Jinkx Monsoon & BenDeLaCreme’s “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show” Tours Internationally This Fall
You better watch out, you better not cry, because global drag icons and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are coming back to town with the wildly successful, internationally acclaimed The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show (Produced by BenDeLaCreme Presents). The tour will run from November 11 - December 30 across the U.K, U.S. and Canada with a new show written by Jinkx & DeLa that proves why they’re still the reigning “queens of Christmas” (Entertainment Weekly).
Following the massive success of three previous holiday tours, fans can expect another year of fabulous spectacle, whip-smart comedy, brand new songs, and annual favorites. Join the sugary DeLa and spicy Jinkx for an evening The New York Times says is “sure to lift your spirits and make you howl with laughter.”
BenDeLaCreme says, “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is joyous, hilarious, surrealist, communal, and heartwarming. Nothing makes me feel more connected to the good in the world than the seas of people we get to celebrate the season with night after night--laughing, cheering, and being in our feelings together. I’m so lucky to get to experience that each year, and I hope you all will experience it with us.”
Jinkx Monsoon (who just won All Stars 7) adds, “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show will take everything you expect from a drag queen variety show, and spin it on its side. It will test the limits of stupidity, while being unexpectedly deep and reflective. We strive for entertainment while always proving that the holidays are for you to celebrate however you want to.”
BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are the sole writers of their holiday shows, a major achievement for two drag artists who tour at such a large scale each year. Jinkx says, “I think it is important that the show is created BY us, so it's decidedly FOR us, and those like us. So often, queer and drag stories are written by outsiders, and lack an authenticity that queer audiences crave. Creating the show ourselves, from the ground up, ensures that that authenticity is infused in every aspect of the production.”
DeLa adds, “Jinkx and I LOVE writing. We are passionate and have something to say. It comes from the heart. Writing AND performing as a combo is the best way for us to express what drives us as artists and as humans and fortunately, on top of that, people just happen to think we’re very funny.”
For the past four years, Jinkx and DeLa have owned the season with their sold-out holiday tours including To Jesus, Thanks for Everything in 2018, All I Want for Christmas Is Attention in 2019 and The Return of the Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, LIVE! In 2021. In 2020, BenDeLaCreme produced her first-ever film under BenDeLaCreme Presents with The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special (Hulu / PVOD), a 60-minute variety special made for the screen. The special debuted to critical acclaim and solidified itself as a global queer holiday must-watch for years to come.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is co-written and co-created by BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon, directed by BenDeLaCreme, and produced by BenDeLaCreme Presents, a company comprised of producers BenDeLaCreme, Kevin Heard, and Gus Lanza. For more information, and to sign up for updates, visit jinkxanddela.com.
As “Queens of Christmas” Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme prepare to kick off their 4th annual critically-acclaimed holiday tour - “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show” - they’ve released a hopeful and classic holiday ballad, “Looking at the Lights” available on all streaming platforms November 1st via BenDeLaCreme Presents Records. Written by BenDeLaCreme, composed by Major Scales and performed by Jinkx Monsoon, the song debuted in the 2021 holiday tour which beautifully (and hilariously) explores the effects the pandemic had on our mental health, and how the “joy” of the holidays felt different than before.
DeLa says, “‘Looking at the Lights’ is the first song I’ve ever written that’s just earnest and didn’t break itself with a joke. It’s a true holiday song about friendship and community, and how even in the darkest of times, we still have each other. I wrote it as a way to process all my feelings of trauma, grief and anxiety in the pandemic. When we were working on the show last year, it had all the campiness, jokes and parodies our audiences love but it was still missing something that truly acknowledged what we had all gone through. This song became the climax of the show, and hearing Jinkx sing it for the first time absolutely floored me. As someone who’s always struggled with the holidays, this is more than just a song about pandemic loneliness. It’s timeless and always relatable.”
Jinkx adds, “First of all, it’s such an honor when two of your brilliantly talented friends [BenDeLaCreme and Major Scales] make a song for you and ask you to sing it. When DeLa and I first heard the composition by Major, we had mutual goosebumps. It’s become one of my absolute favorite songs to perform, and even more special knowing how audiences connect with it. I’m excited for fans who got to see the show last year to add this studio recording to their holiday playlists.”
“Looking at the Lights” follows the release of the duo’s first joint studio album, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special Soundtrack from their beloved holiday film classic The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special streaming on Hulu (Produced & Directed by BenDeLaCreme).
Tour Dates:
November 11 - Clearwater, FL (Capitol Theatre) [Preview Performance]
November 12 - Clearwater, FL (Capitol Theatre) [Preview Performance]
November 17 - London, UK (London Palladium) *SOLD OUT*
November 18 - Sheffield, UK (Sheffield City Hall)
November 19 - Manchester, UK (Manchester Opera House)
November 20 - Brighton, UK (Brighton Dome)
November 23 - Buffalo, NY (Riviera Theatre)
November 25 - Toronto, ON (Queen Elizabeth Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
November 26 - Ottawa, ON (Algonquin Commons Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
November 27 - Montreal, QC (Olympia) *SOLD OUT*
November 29 - Boston, MA (Chevalier Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
November 30 - Philadelphia, PA (The Fillmore) *SOLD OUT*
December 2 - New York, NY (Town Hall) *SOLD OUT*
December 3 - New York, NY (Town Hall) *SOLD OUT*
December 4 - Washington, DC (Lincoln Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 6 - St. Paul, MN (The Fitzgerald Theater) *SOLD OUT*
December 7 - Chicago, IL (Auditorium Theatre)
December 8 - Detroit, MI (Royal Oak Music Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 9 - Indianapolis (Murat Theatre at Old National Centre)
December 11 - Austin, TX (Paramount Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 12 - Dallas, TX (Majestic Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 14 - Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 16 - San Diego, CA (Balboa Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 17 - San Francisco, CA (The Warfield) *SOLD OUT*
December 18 - Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
December 19 - Los Angeles (Orpheum Theatre)
December 21 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
December 22 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
December 23 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
December 24 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
December 27 - Portland, OR (Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall)
December 29 - Calgary, AB (Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium)
December 30 - Vancouver, BC (Vogue Theatre) *SOLD OUT*
Additional Praise for The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show:
"Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are the Queens of Christmas."
- Entertainment Weekly
"Filled with queer Christmas cheer, these queens deliver the goodies."
- Film Inquiry
“A masterclass in polished, elevated drag, that plays to the special talents of its stars, this is a pairing not to be missed.”
- Glasgow Theatre
“[Jinkx & Dela] are experts at the kind of physical comedy Lucille Ball perfected in her heyday. Whether it’s with a snarl of the lip, in Jinkx’s case, or a widening of the eyes, in DeLa’s, each has the ability to make small movements speak volumes…”
- Exeunt Magazine
“A double dose of delight...One story, two queens, and an extravagantly side-splitting evening.”
- Out Front Magazine
Drag DJ-production Duo JAWBREAKERS Release Debut Music Video - "Boyfriend"
Kali Forni-Kate and Sabrina Babyslut are drag producer/DJs! Together, they are known as the Jawbreakers. In their first EP, Just A Taste - being released through Vicious Recordings, the label that discovered Avicii when he was a teenager, and released his first ten records - the duo dish out delicious dance, pop and tech house songs that reflect on their live DJ shows. "Boyfriend," the EP’s first single, is out now. It’s video emphasizes how Kali and Sabrina not only DJ their parties, they are their parties.
Just A Taste, the debut EP from the drag-duo DJ-production team known as Jawbreakers, dishes out dance, pop and tech house songs suitable for clubs and partygoers at home enjoying a late-night kiki. “The EP is a sampling platter of beats with something for everyone,” says Kali Forni-Kate of Jawbreakers. “It’s Just A Taste, because there is 100% more to come,” adds her collaborator, Sabrina Babyslut. With songs like “This Is Dirty” and “Ciao Bella,” the EP reflects the group’s live DJ shows that emphasize how Jawbreakers are not only playing the party, they are the party. "Boyfriend," the EP’s first release, is a modern-day remake of Ashlee Simpson’s 2005 hit that chronicled her stealing Wilmer Valderrama from Lindsay Lohan. The Jawbreaker version features vocals from Amunda (formerly from Operator Please). Its accompanying music video, directed by Nyssa Mitchell, conceptualized by Jawbreakers with editing and FX by Zachary McSweeney, is a technicolor dream, with Kali and Sabrina dressed in eye-catching lewks. The Just A Taste EP is being distributed through Extrovert Music, a division of Vicious Recordings, and will be available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms on April 1. Jawbreaker’s “Boyfriend” music video is available on YouTube.
Kali and Sabrina first met in 2016, performing in a Britney Spears tribute show in Melbourne. They immediately clicked as both came from similar middle-class, nuclear family backgrounds, discovered drag via their passions for musical theatre, and began their individual adventures into the art form after high school. When they learned of their shared interest in music production, they decided to join forces as a DJ duo. They bought a mixer and six months later they were in business.
“The biggest hurdle was deciding who stands where in the booth,” Kali explains. “Sabrina is left-handed and I’m right. We had to fight over who uses the left and right DJ decks. Swapping throws off our groove!”
Their Jawbreakers name harkens back to the iconic candy from their childhoods and the 1998 teen film that starred Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart and Julie Benz as the “it” girl clique who reign supreme in their high school. “It’s a reflection on how the drag that we do is heavily inspired by pop culture,” Kali continues. “Like the girls in the movie, we dress to have fun and through the music we play and the energy that we exude, it makes everyone want to party with us!”
The duo has already headlined several international festivals including Sydney Mardi Gras and Milkshake Festival in Netherlands. Their next big gig will be Summer Camp Festival where they will perform alongside Years and Years, Big Freedia and The Veronicas. They are also slated to perform the next Goodlife U18 event, as well as Adelaide Festival, St Kilda Festival and Melbourne Pride.
“We have been keeping an eye on Jawbreakers for several years,” says Damien Platt of Extrovert Music, a division of Vicious Recordings, the label that discovered Avicii when he was a teenager, and released his first ten records. “When Kali and Sabrina presented us with demos of the EP, we were instantly fans of the music. It's fun, its camp and its quality music.”
Jawbreakers is not Extrovert Music’s first foray into gay dance floor music. Label co-founder Andy Van, of the band Madison Avenue, had a #1 dance anthem with “Don’t Call Me Baby”. More recently, Sgt Slick’s recut of “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” went gold and has become a major queer anthem. “Extrovert Music is focusing on dance pop/disco/commercial/cross over releases,” Platt continues. “A majority of our new signings and existing roster who identify as LGBTQIA+ are producing this sound.”
While Jawbreakers’ unique look has helped attract attention to their work, Sabrina admits that performing as hyper feminine drag artists has made it harder for fans and the music industry to take the duo seriously. “We’ve had straight DJs hit on us and others wonder who the random chicks were in the booth,” she explains. “But way more people have shown their support and their desire to see us succeed.”
“We’re lucky to live in an era when queer culture is proving that we can be a force in any and every industry,” Kali adds. “Never underestimate what a queen can achieve. It only makes us work harder.”
Jawbreakers’ “Just A Taste” is being distributed through Extrovert Music and will be available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms. The “Boyfriend” video is available now on YouTube. Follow on Instagram @ JawbreakersDJ
