THE global success of Lawrence Chaney has been both remarkable and predictable.
Anyone lucky enough to have caught the drag queen doing guest spots in the basement of CC Blooms or numerous bars in Glasgow before they won RuPaul’s Drag Race UK can testify that Chaney’s flame has always burned bright.
However, it wasn’t until Chaney’s appearance on Drag Race that the prospect of a Scottish queen making waves internationally felt achievable.
Hot off the heels of a stint hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race Live in Las Vegas, Chaney’s Fringe show – Overweight & Over It – touches on their past few years of meteoric success and the challenges faced by a thick-accented Scot in the world of entertainment.
They talk of people asking why her accent seems different in America (“because they don’t understand anything I’m f****** saying!”) and filming a movie with Diane Keaton and Lulu.
READ MORE: Megan Stalter Edinburgh Fringe: An hour of chaos with the US star
Ultimately, though, it always returns to ground where Chaney feels most comfortable: Good-natured mockery of their personal relationship to food, fame and Scotland.
A mixture of stand-up comedy, lip-syncing and near constant discussion with the audience means there’s seldom a dull moment in the show.
Jokes centred around the despicable depiction of obesity in 2010s television (Fat Families, Snog Marry Avoid, Supersize Vs Superskinny) hit the hardest while Chaney’s lipsync numbers are always punctuated with their trademark humour.
Yet, Chaney’s ability to get the room laughing at an off-the-cuff interaction with the audience mean you’re not really there to hear the scripted jokes (not all of which are thigh-slappers).
It’s the irreverent, gallus and infinitely charming spontaneity of Scotland’s most successful drag queen that keeps selling out shows.
Long may it continue.
Lawrence Chaney's Overweight & Over It is on at the Ian McKellen Theatre, Saint Stephens, Stockbridge from August 21-27
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