Last night Jinkx Monsoon came to York Barbican as part of her first solo tour since 2022.
By Graeme Smith
She was solo but not alone as joining her on stage was long time collaborator Major Scales on keys as well as The Badlings on drum and bass, giving her the rock band she always craved to go on tour with. Support came from friend and comedian Lucas Arnold.
The musical element of the night was one thing – relevant covers of musical, pop and rock staples with subtle tweaks to the lyrics for effect – but what proved more absorbing were the stories that Monsoon told in between.
We’ve known Jinx Monsoon the performer for some time. She rose to fame as the winner of Season 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and has become a seasoned stage performer, including a three year stint on Broadway.
Last night at the Barbican was all about getting to know Jinkx Monsoon as a person.
The show was cabaret style but light entertainment it was not. Between the songs and humour, Monsoon told candid tales of her transition and her upbringing as a ‘fake Catholic.’ She shared how the three caretakers in her life – her mother, grandmother, and aunt – more closely resembled a witches coven than a traditional Catholic household, hence the name of the show. Speaking of Witch.
We got the full story of her life from conception, to birth, to growing up queer (and being told she’d go to Hell for it) to making the transition to woman via being gender nonbinary.
Among the personal stories were rants around conservative pushback to queer existence. One salient point focussed on how those quoting the ‘science’ of biological sex conveniently overlook the existence of intersex people. The topic was close to home for Monsoon as she’d recently discovered her mother is intersex.
People like Jinkx Monsoon are important in times like these, those who refuse to be quietly erased by others who feel they can tell them what they are. For her part, she took comfort from the audience turning up to support her and watch her perform (and there were many in a packed out Barbican.) I’m sure many in the audience, too, felt validated by her honest stories.
Lucas Arnold and Jinkx Monsoon performed at York Barbican on Saturday 10 July 2026.
