Top 20 Times Drag Race Queens Broke Ru on Snatch Game
#20: Trinity the Tuck
Considering she had to fight off Gia Gunn to play her, Trinity clearly knew impersonating Caitlyn Jenner was the golden ticket for her. There’s no denying Trinity killed this one. She kept one foot on the gas and the other on her competitors’ necks, and RuPaul wasn’t safe either. The host was eating up every second of Trinity’s performance. Every time Trinity puts that weird but incredibly accurate growl into Jenner’s voice, Ru is cackling. There’s even a moment when she seems to be looking at the crew for help.
#19: BenDeLaCreme
Playing flamboyant actor and “Hollywood Squares” regular Paul Lynde, two-time Snatch Game winner BenDeLaCreme smartly played on two of Ru’s favorite things - 70s references and vulgarity. Lynde’s campy sense of humor was already boundary-pushing in the classic TV era. All Stars 3 frontrunner DeLaCreme’s interpretation turns up the dial on the late star’s persona, seasoning it with some good one-liners and a dash of naughtiness. RuPaul spends most of the challenge lapping up every single one of Ben’s X-rated double entendres, and sometimes she’s even cracking up over the single entendres, too.
#18: Sapphira Cristál
In season 16, Plane Jane’s trademark insult humor had RuPaul looking guilty for laughing. When she called Morphine Love Dion an “ugly man,” we thought the host was going to faint. Sapphira Cristál’s James Brown was on another level entirely. It almost looked like she had RuPaul questioning his reality entirely. She refuses to “yes and” Sapphira’s insistence that James Brown isn’t wearing character shoes, but that just makes their back and forth that much more unhinged. The impression continues to get wilder and wilder. Ru can barely keep it together every time. If one queen ran this Snatch Game, it was Sapphira.
#17: Chad Michaels
Talk about having a reputation to live up to. Chad Michaels is one of our foremost Cher impersonators, so if she didn’t smash the Snatch Game, it could’ve been a once-in-a-generation blunder. Fortunately, she more than delivered. Considering what a disaster the rest of the challenge was, you could argue that RuPaul was already broken by the end of season 4’s Snatch Game. However, Chad was able to put a perfect period on the end of the mess. Ru’s wheezing laughter was a testament to how much a good laugh was needed after all that.
#16: Gigi Goode
Talking about breaking. Maria the Robot was having quite a few issues on the Snatch Game panel. Ru’s ability to volley with the queens is a major part of why Snatch Game works. Gigi’s aggressive robot challenged her to play along at every turn. It made her ridiculous and totally hilarious series of malfunctions and monotone attempts at human communication all the more hard to keep a straight face. It’s one thing to make RuPaul laugh. It’s another to prove her wrong at the same time. The host had doubts about whether she could make a robot character funny. Gigi Goode’s performance corrected that impression.
#15: Myki Meeks
Sometimes a great Snatch Game winner can almost disappear behind the makeup, but Myki Meeks’ expressive eyes and pouty lips were working overtime from the start. Maybe that’s why it took just one look to make RuPaul fall apart with laughter. Mimicking Drew Barrymore’s penetrating gaze pretty much primed the host to cackle at anything Myki said after that. Given that Ru has worked with Barrymore in the past, there’s something a little extra special about how good Myki’s work is here. There was little competition on the panel, so the laughs were sorely needed.
#14: Ginger Minj & Kylie Sonique Love
Sometimes it takes two to make RuPaul gasp for air in the middle of a challenge. Part of what made it so hard to keep it together during this Snatch Game is that the queens playing Phyllis Diller and Dolly Parton were often working together. Ginger Minj put on a white fright wig to impersonate the legendary comedienne while Kylie Sonique Love took on the beloved country icon. Their punchlines were a one-two punch of well-timed insults back and forth that built into a runaway train of funniness. They even broke their competitor, Trinity K. Bonet. Realizing her Whitney Houston was never gonna measure up, she just decided to surrender and watch Ginger and Kylie work their magic.
#13: Kennedy Davenport
It’s hard to explain just how risky a choice Little Richard was back in season 7. Kennedy Davenport’s decision to play a man for the Snatch Game had the potential to send her home. She fully embodied the “Architect of Rock and Roll’s” boisterous personality. The best and most hysterical touch was her random vocalizations, an even more exaggerated version of Little Richard’s lending a touch of insanity to the performance that Ru clearly found irresistible. Even though Kennedy scored a joint win with Ginger Minj, it seems like Kennedy got Ru to break way more than anyone.
#12: Bob the Drag Queen
Other than “make Ru laugh,” Snatch Game has few rules. No one ever said you can’t do two characters. Midway through, Bob the Drag Queen switched from “Orange Is the New Black” star Uzo Aduba to Broadway legend Carol Channing. Bob’s audacious choice to play two different characters paid off in a big way. However, her bonkers take on Channing is the impression that really sent Ru over the edge. She took over the show. Frankly, RuPaul seemed more than happy to let her. She got a nice little break while Bob took the reins.
#11: Jimbo
There’s something to be said for brute-forcing your way through the Snatch Game. Jimbo’s Shirley Temple is consistently loud, manic, and totally disturbing. She is so delightfully and undeniably chaotic that RuPaul has no choice but to fall back when she has the mic. The tap dance break is easily one of the wildest things a contestant has ever decided to do mid-challenge. Even Ru doesn’t laugh right away. She’s as speechless as we are. In fact, she almost looks too terrified to react. This is a tour de force from one of “Drag Race’s” biggest clowns.
#10: Loosey Laduca
The overstuffed Snatch Game gave plenty of queens the opportunity to shine. Some just fell on their faces. Ru could barely get past Anetra’s feminized Gordon Ramsey character’s name. But it was Loosey Laduca’s Joan Rivers that really had RuPaul losing it on set. If it wasn’t her pitch perfect impression, it was her constant back and forth between contestants who weren’t performing quite as well. The host was already over Sugar and Spice’s bizarre performances, but when Joan shut Sugar down in the middle of an attempt at a joke, RuPaul didn’t laugh so much as scream.
#9: Baga Chipz
This “Drag Race UK” contestant found the right combination of pop culture references and butt kissing to get RuPaul on board. In the first edition of “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World,” Baga played Kathy Bates for the Snatch Game. Although, let’s be real, it wasn’t Kathy Bates. It was Annie Wilkes, Bates’ Oscar-winning and copyright-protected role from “Misery.” She played her as a deranged superfan who’s set her sights on RuPaul himself. Not only was it free advertising for Ru’s book, “Guru,” but Baga’s increasingly unhinged jokes actually took the host aback several times. At some points, it’s hard to tell if Ru is genuinely laughing or terrified.
#8: Gottmik
Paris Hilton has enough quirks and trademark lines that any queen could coast on an impression. But season 13 finalist Gottmik really made some incredible and subtle choices to bring the heiress, businesswoman, reality star, and DJ to life. From the voice change to the hilariously out-of-touch answers, Mik had Ru and her fellow contestants in stitches. If there’s one thing Ru loves, it’s crude humor. It was a particularly well-timed joke, about a specific part of the human anatomy of all things, that made RuPaul practically fall to the floor. Gottmik could have won the whole challenge on that moment alone.
#7: Alaska & Katya
Yes, it’s a competition, but when two queens play off of each other so effortlessly, we all win. On the long-awaited All Stars 2, eventual finalists Alaska and Katya were a dynamic duo. As classic Hollywood bombshell Mae West and Icelandic singer Björk, the two matched wits and quips to hilarious effect. Their risqué exchanges had Ru actively feeding them more joke set-ups. It’s such a notable difference from how he treats Tatianna and Detox, who weren’t serving quite as much. Alaska and Katya had him wheezing and gasping for breath, but he couldn’t help himself. Someone get Ru an inhaler, because we’re a little worried at this point.
#6: Alexis Michelle
RuPaul loves a queen who knows her herstory. Contestants who bring classic divas to Snatch Game are sure to get some attention from Ru. When Alexis Michelle played Liza Minnelli, she had big, sparkly heels to fill. She filled them well. Her Liza was a great impression, but also paid tribute to her status as a gay icon. But most importantly, she had a lot of fun with it. So did Ru. By the time Alexis began showing off Liza’s manic jazz hands and talent for kicking fabulously at nothing in particular, Ru just couldn’t catch a breath.
#5: Bimini Bon-Boulash
The UK queens already know a heavy British accent goes a long way with him. For that reason alone, playing tabloid mainstay Katie Price is an inspired choice. But what’s better is that Price is the kind of person whose behavior just attracts attention, even if she doesn’t always understand why. As Price, “Drag Race UK” season 2 favorite Bimini Bon-Boulash was operating on another plane. Bimini’s loopy statements about various body parts and wild stories about her life were so unexpected, RuPaul was guffawing with laughter. He nearly fell off his mark and left the frame at one point.
#4: Ra'Jah O'Hara
This “All Stars” season 6 contestant had a very simple approach to pulling the comedy out of her La Toya Jackson. Make a bunch of statements about herself, and then say something that completely contradicts what she just said. It was a winning formula for Ru. Ra’Jah O’Hara’s airheadedness as La Toya had Ru doubling over with laughter. Considering Eureka and Pandora weren’t shining nearly as much, it made Ra’Jah’s incredible impression stand out even more.
#3: Jinkx Monsoon & Trinity the Tuck
The all winners Snatch Game was wild from start to finish. Even the worst performances were hilarious. Jinkx Monsoon slayed the challenge the second time around, and had RuPaul and the other queens in stitches the whole time. While the season 5 winner’s original appearance as Little Edie Beale is still an all-timer, her rendition of the legendary Judy Garland stole the show. By the time RuPaul was wrapping things up, the challenge had devolved into a free-for-all of laughter. But it was Jinkx and Trinity the Tuck’s moment of comedic one-upmanship that sent Ru over the edge and into a fit of hysterics.
#2: Jujubee
She may be the perennial runner-up of the franchise, but this celebrated queen knows how to serve up comedy and impersonation. She killed it as Cher on “UK vs. the World,” but it was her viral moment as Eartha Kitt in “All Stars” 5’s Snatch Game of Love that made Ru, and everyone at home, cackle. Even before Jujubee finished answering a question about how she’d keep her lover warm at night, RuPaul was losing it. Jujubee had to pause to even get to her now iconic punchline about turning the thermostat to a sensible 74 degrees. Ru’s screams of laughter are probably still echoing through the rafters.
#1: Alyssa Edwards
Not a season of “Drag Race” can go by without a “Mommie Dearest” reference, it seems. That’s why Alyssa Edwards’ choice to do Joan Crawford, by way of Faye Dunaway in the infamous biopic about her, is so smart. While Alyssa famously failed the first time she did the Snatch Game, she delivered this time. She blurted out lines from the movie even when they didn’t necessarily make sense. But Ru couldn’t help himself because her entire performance was too entertaining to ignore. That’s why the number one rule of Snatch Game is always “make Ru laugh.”
Did these queens have you laughing as hard as RuPaul? Let us know in the comments.
