What goes on in drag royalty Ginger Johnson’s sock drawer stays in Ginger’s sock drawer.
But lest your imagination runs riot, let’s just say his array of sock puppets are very frisky when no-one’s looking. It’s just one of Ginger’s crazier ideas in their roller coaster cabaret life.
When you talk to the reigning RuPaul’s Drag Race UK champion, you realise their mind is as fertile as the fields of Egypt.
As a child Donald Marshall used to create puppet shows behind the sofa with his sister – performing the Princess and the Pea, where the future Ginger was the star as The Pea.
Later the New York Club Kidz phenomenon was a great influence, as was the legendary Leigh Bowery and the idea that your persona might not necessarily be human.
“I climbed onto speaker stacks in a red sequinned tail coat and with lobster claws. The character was a pain in the arse.“ The legendary performer, Scotee, took Ginger under their wing. “He gave me gigs and taught me how cabaret art works.”
Scotee is perhaps best known for Hamburger Queen – a talent show for fat people, exploring fat activism, in which Ginger appeared. This led to Ginger making weekly costumes for Scotee.
Ginger’s next venture was Karaoke Hole in Dalston where they learnt the basics of drag. “They were wild, wild times.”
But Ginger’s next endeavour took them back to their childhood. “I was asked to write children’s stories. I thought it was important to create a tolerant world for gay people. I wrote fabulous adventure stories, and it just so happens the main characters were queer.”
And harking back again, Ginger admits there have always been lots of puppets in their shows. So they created Sock Suckers – definitely not for children. “I had years ago had a backing choir of sock puppets, and I found them again in a drawer – wrapped round each other like there was an orgy going on.
“I decided: what if, when I close the drawer, they all start having sex?” The idea became a 10-part series for Scruff on YouTube during Covid and was a great hit.
Ginger says their dream came true with Drag Race UK, of which they are the current reigning champion. But life goes on. “I have a new dream – I want to be a daredevil: the most dangerous drag queen in the UK, to prove my bravery credentials.”
Hence Ginger Johnson Blows Off – which includes a form of Russian roulette, and lots of fire. “In drag you’re one of the most flammable people in the world,” so expect lots of surprises when Ginger brings the show to Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on November 15. The show has original songs by Bourgeois and Maurice in collaboration with Ginger.
Nothing would surprise you about Ginger – he was a hooker three times a week as a teenage rugby star. “Drag is the next best thing, just a different type of shoe.”
Tickets for Ginger Johnson Blows Off at brightondome.org
You can also catch Ginger in Tuckshop’s fourth all-drag pantomime Peter Pan at London’s Phoenix Theatre from December 2 – January 6. Tickets HERE
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