Julian Clary’s top picks: Berri Juicy & Stacy Queen
They’re the sexy, sassy new sensation of the drag queen scene that has caught the eye of Adelaide Fringe ambassador Julian Clary.
Berri Juicy and Stacy Queen – aka Brandon Tsoumbris and Anton Hauk – may be debutants on the Fringe circuit but these girls have got online form and are now taking their witty and musical show to the stage.
Performing at Venue 63 in Light Square this Friday and Saturday, they have been tagged by their peers and growing legion of online and live fans as one of Adelaide’s up-and-coming drag shows.
And Clary agrees. The English comedian, who was in Adelaide last month and performed his own show at the Royalty Theatre, listed Berri Juicy and Stacy Queen in his top picks for the Fringe.
“Oh yes! I picked them out of the program,” Clarey told InDaily at a book signing during the first week of Fringe.
“It’s a pity I’m not going to be here to see them.”
“It sucks that we can’t meet him,” Berri said, “because in the review he said we were filthy and since I read that I was like, ‘Right, now we’re going to add weird stuff’.”
Venue 63’s director, Barbara, said the duo may be young but they were quickly gaining a enthusiastic following.
“It just shows you what talent they’ve got,” she said.
“Stacy is just bloody hilarious with some of the comments she comes out with.”
Berri described their show as “a touch of Saturday Night Live”, skits and guests mixed with music .
Stacy: “At the same time we want to bring something to the Fringe Festival that we thought hadn’t been done in the drag scene and Adelaide in general.
“We wanted to bring a fun comedy musical atmosphere where there was no judgment and it’s all very equal.”
Added Berri: It’s the type of comedy where you sit down for a 45-minute show and you giggle, giggle, giggle.”
The duo met through mutual friends about a year ago and when they “just clicked” they saw a show in the making.
“I was at a party and wearing two wigs at the same time – I was wig-sucking, and we were just changing wigs and I was showing her make-up and there was a lot more to drag,” Berri said.
“What also brought us together,” Stacy said, “was we both loved Kiss and ever since then we instantly bonded. Berri had already started performing in drag; I hadn’t yet but had started building my skills in drag.”
Stacy, who has a strong YouTube following, said the Adelaide show was a platform for a national tour.
In the meantime, they are putting the final touches to their debut Fringe act.
Berri: “It’s just amazing to get all this positive feedback and all this positive energy from everywhere just coming in and it’s just making the show so much better.”
Stacy: “Everyone’s getting so excited about it – it’s a dream come true, really.”
Berri Juicy & Stacy Queen will perform at Venue 63, Light Square, on March 11 and 12.