Words by Ashleigh Goodwin
Following her sell out Not Today Satan tour in 2016/7 , Bianca Del Rio is back at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with her Blame It On Bianca stand-up comedy show on Monday 30th July.
The evening’s entertainment starts in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar from 6pm with a live performance from Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, followed by a ‘pre-show party’ with DJ Lady Miss Ikea at 7pm. The main Blame It On Bianca show is scheduled to start at 8.30pm.
The event is strictly 16+ and is currently sold out, with no further tickets planned for release at the time of writing. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.
Bianca Del Rio is primarily known as the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6, with her outspoken nature, caustic comedy, and razor-sharp wit quickly making her a firm fan favorite. Del Rio was further voted as the viewers’ favorite winner from Drag Race Seasons 1-6 in a poll conducted by Logo TV, the then broadcaster of the RuPaul show.
Bianca Del Rio solidified her competency and professionalism as a performer through iconic RuPaul challenges such as ‘The Snatch Game’ and the ‘Queens of Comedy’, with the show’s titular host saying of her stand up routine in the latter that not only did she “kill it,” she “murdered it”. This should give you a hint of the possible hilarity/havoc on its way to the Symphony Hall stage.
To open the night, FLUID Festival are presenting free pre-show entertainment ‘as part of Symphony Hall’s foyer events programme’ before the Blame It On Bianca Del Rio show. Soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies will be performing from 6pm, whose collaboration ‘focuses on opera’s heart-shatteringly high-diva moments to cabaret classics… and smashes down walls between classical concert halls and queer performance spaces. ’
Additionally, ‘international dance music DJ’ Lady Miss Ikea will be appearing from 7pm, playing a mixture of ‘the most glamorous deep, house, disco and wildest pop’ and getting the audience ready for the “clown in a gown” Del Rio.
And whilst self-proclaimed, “clown in a gown” only touches the surface of Bianca Del Rio, with costume designing, three stand-up comedy tours, numerous theatre performances, and film roles all under her belt. Del Rio was also the ‘first contestant in the shows’ history’ of the phenomenally popular RuPaul’s Drag Race ‘to make it through the entire competition without every placing in the bottom three for a challenge’ – with Del Rio’s ‘go hard or go home’ ethos also taking her recent Blame It On tour across Australia, Asia, South America, North America and mainland Europe before landing in the UK.
Not a bad list of accolades, let’s just hope she’s got some energy left. For as the queen of insult comedy has said of Monday’s event: “I hope you’re ready for some filthy, nasty, hateful humor because I’m coming to Birmingham with a brand-new comedy show”. Symphony Hall front row, you have been warned.
Bianca Del Rio brings her Blame It On stand up show to the Symphony Hall on Monday 30th July 2018. There will be pre-show entertainment from soprano Alexandra Bork and pianist Nick Bonadies, as well as a set from DJ Lady Miss Ikea in the Symphony Hall Foyer & Café Bar. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thsh.co.uk/event/blame-it-on-bianca-del-rio
For more on Bianca Del Rio, visit www.thebiancadelrio.com
For more from the Town & Symphony Halls, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thsh.co.uk
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