USA
2008
95 min.
Genre/Subjects: Comedy, Documentary, Drag/TV/TS, Gay, Musical

When the drag-a-pella comedy troupe gets a chance at an openended run in Las Vegas, you know there’s going to be drama. An intimate look at a queer act struggling to come to terms with its own success.

The members of the Kinsey Sicks describe themselves as America’s only self-supporting, multi-person, out, queer, draga- pella, political comedy revue. And they’ve done quite well for themselves, making a living playing sold-out shows in college towns, entertaining audiences with songs like “Rent a Homo,” I Want to Be a Republican” and “AZT” (sung to the tune of the Jackson 5’s own three-letter ’70s hit). But Ken Bielenberg’s spirited documentary does more than capture their raunchy humor and cutting satire: It tracks the group’s preparation for a potential openended run at the Las Vegas Hilton. And when these drag queens hit Vegas, you know there’s going to be drama.

Combining interviews with onstage footage and glimpses into the personal lives of “Trampolina,” “Trixie,” “Winnie” and “Rachel,” Almost Infamous tracks the travails of the traveling band: the smelly costumes, the condescending sound guys, the exhaustion, the dead audiences. It also documents a queer act trying to come to terms with its own success.

It’s a grand drag spectacle and an intimate look at an act struggling to preserve its substance in the face of forces that are working to reduce them to nothing more than camp. • Aaron Lazenby