00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, if
00:07there are an award for the best title of any show, the gentleman opposite me would win
00:12it. Ginger Johnson, reigning queen at RuPaul's Drag Race UK. Ginger, you're heading to Brighton
00:19with a show called Ginger Johnson Blows Off. Now, how can you get away with that? And also,
00:26in what sense is it blowing off? Well, the show, believe it or not, the show ostensibly
00:34is about art. So it seems like it's a content warning in itself that we would call it Ginger
00:41Johnson Blows Off, which has been a surprise for some people when they've arrived. I think
00:46maybe it's a phrase that people don't use that much anymore, but it just made us laugh
00:51that when we were first putting the show together and that was one of the titles we came up
00:55with.
00:56But the wider context, this is you showing yourself off as a daredevil, isn't it, basically?
01:00Yes, that's right. The show is me chasing a new dream of becoming Britain's most dangerous
01:05woman. So it's a series of escalatingly ridiculous stunts as I try harder and harder to live
01:11up to the memory of this amazing circus performer that I saw get fired out of a cannon when
01:18I was younger.
01:19Wow. And what does it say about you that you're seeking out these dangerous situations live
01:24on stage in front of an audience?
01:27I think it says that I'm seeking attention. That's my full time job, you know, if you're
01:35not getting people's attention, what are you doing?
01:37Absolutely. But are these stunts actually dangerous? Is there risk?
01:41Yes. Yeah, they really are. And in fact, the ones that appear to be less dangerous are
01:47the most dangerous. And I think that's because while I'm doing them, I'm really concentrating
01:52on making sure that they don't go wrong, you know?
01:55So is that the approach when you're approaching danger? It's concentration, is it? You've
01:59got to be in that moment.
02:00Oh, yeah. Well, it has to be for my safety and for the safety of the audience as well,
02:05because the audience are not spared in this show. They get in their own amounts of danger
02:12throughout the show as well. Nobody is safe.
02:14So it's a fabulous thing to be doing, especially as you come to the end of your year as the
02:19reigning RuPaul's Drag Race UK champion. How have you enjoyed that?
02:25Yeah, well, I've got to leave a lasting impression, haven't you? And if that involves farting
02:29in front of a room full of strangers, then that's what I'm going to do.
02:32You were saying winning the title did change your life, inevitably.
02:37Oh, absolutely. It's changed my life. Yeah, I'm having the best time. It's just opened
02:42up so many doors and I'm getting to meet so many amazing people and work with people that
02:47I have idolised for years and years and years. And I think one of my friends said it to me
02:51the other day, and I think he described it best. He was saying that winning Drag Race
02:56has just given me the opportunity to realise the most ridiculous ideas that in the past
03:03maybe I didn't have the time or the budget or the platform to do. Now, nothing is stopping
03:08me and that's how you end up with Ginger Johnson Blows Off.
03:11Nothing is stopping you and this is what you do. Ginger Johnson Blows Off. It sounds brilliant
03:15and it's coming to Brighton. Lovely to speak to you. Thank you very much.
03:18Thank you. Thanks so much.
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