I was frightened at an early age by a drag queen - a high school mate took some of us along to the Montmartre (a small night club opposite what is now the library) and one of the artistes picked on one of our party to 'interact' with. It wasn't nice. My friend (tall, thin, gawky Geoffrey with glasses) was made fun of. With this in mind, I approached Buffy and Bimbo with a bit of trepidation. Of course that previous experience was back in the early sixties when Buffy and Bimbo were probably still swimming around in their dad's scrotum. So it was with some amazement that I found myself dancing along with not one, not two, but three drag queen routines! Yes, Buffy and Bimbo are what you might call endearing... or mesmerising, maybe... but the entire audience was dancing along, so there was safety in numbers. From Buffy and Bimbo's viewpoint it must have looked amazing. Grotesque even. They were just stonkingly entertaining and gave a generous two and a half hour show. Yes, I felt there was one (or two) too many loud lipsynching numbers. And I don't mean loud as in vulgar, the filth I adored and Bimbo in particular had a wickedly innocent way of getting down and dirty; her driving number with an audience victim, sorry, volunteer was one of the high points of the first half. I also enjoyed the lipsynching most when they sent it up rotten as they did in You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman - I nearly laughed my ring up. Oh, sorry, the vulgarity must be catching. And by the second half the sound man had got the volume right. It was in the second half, too, that the duo really came into their own with a droll, almost surreal audience participation routine. They actually got 4 men and 4 women to go up on stage and be guinea pigs for travellers' beauty tips! I shall never forget the sight of one woman who earnestly kept one hand in a glass of Steradent-infested water while holding two spoons over her eyes for what seemed like ages (yes, the sketch did go on a little). However, when it came to true glamour (and fabulous lipsynching technique), their guest Queenie Aotearoa really took the pavlova. And my! how she shimmyed her way through Proud Mary. And she came all the way from South Auckland to do it! Good on her. I could have done with a bit more of the song stylings of Michael Giacon and his groovy accompanist Brett Higgot. Perhaps they could open the second half instead of that very unfocussed Cher and Chastity number, though Buffy did make an adorably gruesome baby. MC duties were smoothly handled by the affable and unflappable Brad Hills, though I confess I have never seen any of his much-highlighted small screen advert appearences. Such is fame. Maybe Buffy and Bimbo, too, could go easy on the nudge-nudge 'you all remember us from somewhere don't you' references, it can leave people feeling mystified and left out. But in the end I'm pretty certain no one was feeling left out. We had all had such a corker of an evening and we got to exercise our inner drag queens, too. Yes, indeed, a night to remember. Buffy and Bimbo's Cancelled World Tour Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland Friday 28th - Sun 30th July 2006. John Curry - 29th July 2006