The 10 best Snatch Game performances on RuPaul’s Drag Race, from Judy Garland to Joan Rivers
Snatch Game (WOW Presents/BBC/Getty)
Snatch Game, the beloved celebrity impersonation challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, has produced some seriously iconic performances over the years.
Now in its 14th year on air, the Drag Race franchise has seen all kinds of twists and turns over the years, but the Snatch Game remains a steadfast fixture. The premise, on paper, looks simple: deliver a hilarious celebrity impression, make Ru howl with laughter, and cement your status as a frontrunner in the competition.
In reality, though, Snatch Game is extremely difficult, requiring a queen to nail a pitch-perfect impersonation while also bringing side-splitting comedy and improv into the mix. It’s all the more impressive, then, when a queen delivers a spot-on performance – and while it’s difficult to rank the top Snatch Game impersonations in the show’s herstory, we’re taking a trip down memory lane to do just that.
From political leaders and comedy legends to pop music icons, check out our top ten Snatch Game winners below.
10. Loosey LaDuca as Joan Rivers, season 15
The most recent inductee to the Snatch Game Hall of Fame, season fifteen’s Loosey LaDuca absolutely nailed the razor-sharp wit of the legendary late comic Joan Rivers.
Reading everyone from the Pit Crew to the other competitors, Loosey was told during critiques by Ru – who knew Joan personally – that she would have been proud of her impersonation. High praise indeed! Loosey also said that her favourite sex position was “the neighbour’s house”. Inspired.
Although the season fifteen Snatch Game was notoriously short, Loosey’s Joan staked her claim to a deserving place on our list.
9. Aquaria as Melania Trump, season 10
In the first entry on this list of ‘fashion girl storms Snatch Game, leaving all other competitors gooped and gagged’, Aquaria came out swinging, disproving accusations that she was ‘just a look queen’.
The moment where she calls RuPaul ‘Barack’ is so jaw-droppingly funny because it’s not a huge stretch of the imagination to picture Melania Trump making that mistake.
And then you can add in the First Lady joking about Russian hooker urine, the Snatch Game being “rigged” (as in, election rigged) and a quickly discarded placard reading ‘Michelle Obama’? Werk.
8. The Vivienne as Donald Trump, Drag Race UK season 1
Our first UK Hun on the list, one of Drag Race UK‘s first Snatch Game’s winners is, of course, The Vivienne’s portrayal of disgraced 45th POTUS, Donald Trump.
Taking Trump’s penchant for being *cough* liberal with the truth (“There are three million people watching me today”), Viv’s takedown of Trump is definitely one for the history books, complete with cheeto-coloured skin and frazzled hair.
Two words: pussy spice. No one else could have made Trump’s horrific ‘Grab ’em by the p**sy’ remark funny. It’s been absolutely great, it’s been fantastic.
7. Ginger Minj and Kennedy Davenport as Adele and Lil’ Richard, season 7
Containing perhaps the funniest response to the question ‘Where are you from in England?’ – “My house”, Ginger Minj’s Adele is a masterclass in taking Britishness to such ridiculous extremes that it becomes a challenge-winning performance.
Telling Katya’s Suze Orman “I love you, Justin Bieber”, the phrase “sad, sad tears of a clown” and the fixation on awards, Ginger’s Adele really did deserve the win alongside Kennedy’s Lil’ Richard.
Pair that with the Lil’ Richards’ signature “WOOOOOOH! SHUT UP!”, which lives rent-free in every Drag Race viewer’s mind, and the fact that literally anything Kennedy does is funny, these two are a slam dunk.
6. Gottmik as Paris Hilton, season 13
As her former makeup artist, Gottmik was so well placed to impersonate Paris Hilton that it’s no surprise she’s made the list – and no surprise, either, that she snatched the Snatch Game win on season thirteen.
Some of the lines generated from the Hilton impression are so funny, and a genuine masterclass in improv – for example, referencing Raven’s own (bad) Paris Hilton Snatch Game by saying: “Yeah, I saw that. It was f**king rude.”
The huge pink feathered outfit, the ‘SEXY’ choker, the vocal fry so severe it’s unclear whether she’s speaking English? It’s all just too good.
5. Bob the Drag Queen as Uzo Aduba/Carol Channing, season 8
Controversial yet brave statement: Bob the Drag Queen walked so All Stars 7‘s Snatch Game could run.
Becoming the first contest to play two separate characters in one Snatch Game, season winner Bob the Drag Queen’s Uzo Aduba (as Crazy Eyes in Orange is the New Black) and Carol Channing were both scene-stealing characters within their own right. Combined? It was over for everyone.
A poem written by Crazy Eyes involving supermodel Chanel Iman and Carol Channing telling Ru (re douching) that: “If you stay ready, you ain’t got to get ready.” Deserved the win.
4. Bimini Bon Boulash as Katie Price, season 2 (Drag Race UK)
The second UK Hun to make the list, Bimini’s Katie Price proved that the nipples really are the eyes of the face. Another ‘look queen’ that nailed the Snatch Game over comedy queens like Lawrence Chaney and Tia Kofi, Bimini’s nipple-centric comedy well and truly blew the game out of the water.
Taking Katie Price’s accent and penchant for misfortune – “You might have heard in the pwess, my implants got held at gunpoint in South Africa. I caught my horse cheating on me again.” It’s too good (and still fodder for the ‘Bimini Woz Robbed’ crowd).
On a side note, it’s so clear that Gemma Collins has no idea where she is during this Snatch Game.
Before we get into our top three – some honourable mentions that weren’t the most *bang-on* of impressions, but sure were funny.
- Jaida Essence Hall as Prince, All Stars 7: Nothing will ever be funnier than the single line that the queen of season twelve utters as Prince in the all-winners edition of the challenge. “This is a fun game.” It’s not Prince, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense contextually, but in the name of RuPaul, it makes us laugh.
- Denali as Jonathan Van Ness, season 13: Six words for you – “Power drills on aisle seven, honey.”
- Anetra as Gorgena Ramsey, season 15: The worst British accent you’ve ever heard combined with the phrase: “I’m from Nevada,” is just… *chef’s kiss*.
- Nina Bo’Nina Brown as Jasmine Masters, season nine: Playing the poster child of Drag Race‘s discontent is genius, actually.
- Jujubee as Eartha Kitt, All Stars 5: Ask ANY she, gay or they what their favourite temperature is, and the answer will most certainly be “A sensible 74”.
3. BenDeLaCreme as Maggie Smith, season 6
“A libation flavoured with citrus,” and “we originated the language”, are still two of the funniest answers ever uttered on an episode of Snatch Game.
BenDeLaCreme’s Maggie Smith’s over-the-top British accent, her steadfast commitment to never breaking character and interactions with *checks notes* Nicki Minaj is just peak Drag Race – as funny as it is stupid.
“Roople, I understood virtually none of the words that left your lips, moments ago,” will go down in herstory.
2. Alaska as Mae West, All Stars 2
Just missing out on the top spot is the performance that gave us the lines “When I’m good, I’m good. When I’m bad, I get a serious venereal disease”, and “why don’t ya come on up and f**k me in the a*s some time?”
It can only be Alaska’s Mae West from the equally iconic All Stars 2. The rendition of the original blonde bombshell can truly be studied for how to do a great Snatch Game character – pick someone recognisable, but that you can have fun with, and lean into the blank spaces audiences don’t know about. Alaska did it and she won, so.
I doubt Mae West ever said: “After your tenth visit to the clinic, you get one free, aoooowwww,” but by Michelle Visage’s breast reduction it’s funny.
1. Jinkx Monsoon as Judy Garland, All Stars 7
This one was obvious, really. The first all-winners Snatch Game featured 16 individual characters – and one of them was Jinkx Monsoon’s (quite literally unbeatable) Judy Garland.
The character was grounded in minute-yet-unmissably-identifiable mannerisms and such obscure Drag Race references that there was simply no other choice for the win.
Calling Ru “Broom”, telling him that there was nothing “over the rainbow” because it was a set and a story about doing a line of cocaine off Frank Sinatra’s penis… the list truly goes on. As did Frank Sinatra’s penis, apparently.
Complete with impromptu renditions of RuPaul songs à la Judy Garland, it’s no wonder Drag Race‘s only double-crowned queen is now starring on Broadway.
