Myra Dubois: Dead Funny @ Underbelly Bristo Square

Putting the fun into funeral, Myra DuBois makes death look like a party

Review by Dominic Corr | 20 Aug 2019
  • Myra Dubois

Myra DuBois – the quadruple threat star of film, television and stage – is dead. Thank god. The world just wasn’t ready for this talent, incapable of holding itself to the high calibre Myra would expect. And so, we gather in the presence of friends, fans and total strangers to pay our respects as DuBois conducts her own funeral. Who else could do her justice?

At any Fringe show you will hear one sentence above all else: 'Fill to the front please'. That’s the danger zone, especially for a drag act, but Dubois' AdMyras scramble in for their masochistic fix. With dignity, cruelty, an ounce of contempt and a restraining order, Myra can handle her crowd.

Dubois' control, timing, and snap judgements as to who will play along are exquisite. This is someone who knows their craft, understands precisely what they can and cannot pull off, and when to dial the level up a few notches. Returning to the Fringe, she may be inside a shipping container, but this is easily her most well-constructed show to date. Song, dance, wit and a few dark moments come together. It seems there is nothing this woman cannot do, except die gracefully, or hit every note...

Diana was the people’s Princess; well, Myra is the people’s Queen. Dubois, a triumphant example of British Drag, balances the old-school grit of the artform while injecting it with rejuvenated venom.


Myra DuBois: Dead Funny, Underbelly Bristo Square (Buttercup), until 25 Aug, 3.55pm, £10-11; extra show, Underbelly Bristo Square (Clover), 24 Aug, 5.30pm, £10-11