Review: Drag Brunch @ Pitcher And Piano

If you’re new to the concept of Bottomless Drag Brunch, it’s the inspired pairing of two activities long-favoured by the queer community- watching drag queens and eating brunch. Like dinner theatre, but queer.

These are something of an up and coming trend in Bristol, with a handful of events popping up at a few different venues across the city over the past few months, and more planned for the future.

Curious, I decided it was time to jump on the trend and see what it’s all about, so I grabbed a friend and headed to Pitcher and Piano for the latest event.

The food offerings were delicious and the drink offerings generous. Photo by Lucie Taylor

A bottle of Prosecco, orange juice and glasses were awaiting us on our table when we arrived, and shortly after we sat down we were brought containers of peach and raspberry puree to add to our fizz, which was a nice touch.

Never let it be said that the term “bottomless” was misused- before we were anywhere close to finished with the first bottle of Prosecco, we were presented with another, and were frequently offered refills on our Amstel and Aperol Spritz.

Speaking to some of the other attendees, many liked that the bottomless option included a beer, when a lot of bottomless brunch type events don’t; it would be nice to see more non-alcoholic options included as well, like a choice of mocktails.

Myself and my companion for the day are both vegan, which did limit our choice to only one option, an avocado sourdough toast with beetroot hummus. Looking around at other tables, what we had seemed less substantial than the non-vegan options. Nevertheless, it was delicious, especially the beetroot hummus which was vibrant and rich.

Miss Beaver hosted the event with sparkle and wit. Photo by Kit Million Ross

Miss Beaver was our delightfully enthusiastic host for the afternoon, a sparkling wit in an even sparklier dress- or rather, three different dresses. As a host she was brilliant at engaging and warming up the crowd; first with a searingly sharp joke set and then with a game of Name That Tune to some gay pop classics. My only real wish was that we could have seen more of her, as both the jokes she opened the event with and the number she closed it with were brilliantly energetic and vibrant.

The acts on the bill were a remarkably diverse range of queens, spread over two acts with a brief intermission between. Each performed one number in each act, which felt like a good way of keeping things fresh and varied.

Dominique Fleek at Pitcher And Piano Drag Brunch. Photo by Kit Million Ross

The first performer in each act was Dominque Fleek, the only one of the performers to sing live. Adept at engaging her audience, she kicked the first act off beautifully with a cover of Camila Cabello’s Havana and a healthy measure of hair-tossing confidence. She got the crowd up onto the floor to dance along with her second number, to the delight of all involved.

Brandy X brought a sexy, sultry, and at times downright kinky energy to proceedings, as she strutted onto stage in full PVC Catwoman garb and a leather whip. With an absolutely commanding presence, she pulled off moves with the kind of flexibility that seems entirely impossible given her costume. Her second act number saw her strutting across tables in the crowd with more of the powerful energy that is clearly her trademark.

Brandy X brought raw Catwoman energy to the event. Photo by Kit Million Ross

DeDeLicious was one of the funniest drag acts I have ever seen, playing a “basic bitch” character to a mix of songs interspersed with “can I speak to your manager” style voice clips. Possessing brilliant comic timing and a wonderfully expressive face, she was every inch the loud and outlandish classic style of queen we’ve all come to know and love.

DeDelicious performs at Pitcher and Piano Drag Brunch. Photo by Lucie Taylor.

The variety of performance styles the queens brought was well balanced and fresh; it would be great to see some drag kings on the line-up in the future, but either way I’m excited to see who they add to the next line-up.

Overall, the afternoon definitely was an enjoyable one, and an experience I would recommend to anyone looking for a fun twist on the bottomless brunch format with some excellent drag to boot.

Main Image: Kit Million Ross

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