Drag performers transform into The Simpsons for d’oh-lightful tribute
Carrot and Choriza May to feature in The Simpsons inspired drag cabaret show (Twitter/Instagram)
A Simpsons-inspired cabaret and drag show as they hope to inject some much-needed joy into our lives with a night of colourful cabaret.
Joined by the likes of Drag Race star Choriza May, performer Carrot will once again be putting the spring in Springfield as they return to Phoenix Arts Club on Monday (7 March) for A Night in Springfield.
“The Simpsons is often very silly and ridiculous a lot of the time and I think that lends itself to drag quite well,” Carrot explained to PinkNews. “The weird aesthetic can be represented well through drag, that sort of cartoony and fantastical way that these great characters are drawn, so it just works.”
Cannot WAIT to get my Lisa on again at @phoenixartsclub a week today… some seats left in the late show, early show nearly sold out – snap them up ? ? https://t.co/P2xEDW717K pic.twitter.com/GV6XYU8Ic1
— carrot (@CarrotDrag) February 28, 2022
Carrot – who describes themselves as a “non-binary drag vegetable from outer space” – said the cartoon’s own fondness for musical numbers helped inspire the show.
“I had a look back at the musical numbers to see what we could make work,” they said. “It’s been fun to find ways to hit the beats that are going to make the fans smile.”
Like many, Carrot grew up loving The Simpsons and says its quietly adult sense of humour is what makes it so universal.
“They just pepper them in perfectly,” they said.
“There’s something about the nostalgia of remembering those jokes that you liked as a kid then realising, as you grow up, how dirty a lot of the humour is on there that you didn’t pick up on back in the day.”
A Night In Springfield features members of everybody’s yellow family as well as other iconic characters. Choriza May will once again bring their Marge Simpson act, Yellow Mother, to the stage while Carrot will transform into Lisa for their performance.
“She’s the least probably problematic,” Carrot said of the “icon”.
“In many ways, that’s kind of the point of her, is that she’s this social justice warrior.
“I always found her character very enjoyable and relatable because she’s just in this world of idiots and she’s the only one who’s like, ‘Don’t you realise how stupid you all are’. So, I think that’s why I related to her the most.”
Drag artist Carrot as Lisa Simpson (Instagram/Reece Connolly)
For Carrot, keeping things light and fun is the main aim.
“For me, amongst other things, being silly and having fun for the sake of being silly and having fun, that’s a form of activism,” Carrot said. “In a society that forces us to work so much and so hard, putting on a show that has absolutely no intention to change the world is what we need at times.”
They continued: “It’s all about bringing joy to the queer community especially, and creating spaces where we feel safe. That’s definitely always at the heart of anything I create.
“It’s about having a safe space where we can be free and express ourselves and know that no-one is gonna be a d**khead.”
A Night in Springfield will take place at Phoenix Arts Club on 7 March.
