Internationally acclaimed creator and performer Alicia Queen brings “Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story” to Colchester Fringe. For two nights, join Blip Blarp as she attempts to complete her mission of having 1,000 babies and taking over Planet Earth — with audience participation, physical comedy, and plenty of glittery sci-fi along the way. Alicia Queen speaks with FringeReview’s resident interviewer and drag thing Dr.Pants to get the first encounter on this intergalactic drag show. “Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story” is on Wed 28 October 10:00 pm and Thu 29 October 8:30 pm.
NAP: Thank you Alicia for speaking with me today ahead of your intergalactic takeover as Blip Blarp. It’s great to be the first human you’ve had contact with on Earth. Can you tell us what your extra-terrestrial show is about?
AQ: Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story is about an alien who comes to Earth with one very specific mission: have 1,000 babies and take over the planet. Unfortunately for Blip, she discovers that seducing humans is considerably more complicated than she anticipated.
It’s a physical comedy about dating, sex, vulnerability, loneliness, and our sometimes ridiculous attempts to connect with one another. It’s also about what happens when you approach human romance from a completely alien perspective.
NAP: So we can expect something weird and unique?
AQ: If you Google “weirdest shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2026,” I think Blip Blarp comes in at number three. So there’s that! I don’t want to give too much away — you’ll have to see it! And Blip Blarp’s Zoronian mating sequence is definitely one of a kind.
Aside from the rather unusual concept of an alien trying to seduce a human, I think the way I integrate audience participation and multimedia into the show makes it pretty unique.
NAP: You mention there’s audience participation. Do you ever find that to be a challenge?
AQ: There’s a lot of audience participation in the show. While every audience brings something new and exciting, there have definitely been a few mishaps I hadn’t anticipated as I’ve developed the show and incorporated more participation.
So finding the balance between having enough guardrails in place to keep things on track while still preserving the spontaneity that a live audience brings has been a really interesting challenge.
NAP: Your drag persona is Alicia Queen, but in this you play Blip Blarp. How is Blip Blarp an extension of your drag persona?
AQ: Blip Blarp definitely shares some DNA with my drag persona. There’s the glamour, the physicality, the sexuality, the ridiculousness, and the freedom to create a character who can push things much further than I might as myself.
But Blip also gave me the opportunity to take some of those qualities and put them into a completely different world. She’s not human, she’s not quite a drag queen, and she’s certainly not trying to behave herself. I think that combination gives me a lot of freedom to play with gender, sexuality, physical comedy, and audience interaction in ways that feel both familiar and completely new.
NAP: What inspired the show? Where did the concept come from?
AQ: The show was partly inspired by my own experience of returning to dating after divorce. I’d been out of the dating world for more than a decade, and when I found myself back in it, I was struck by how much things had changed — technology, dating apps, expectations around sex and relationships. It sometimes felt like I’d landed on another planet.
That got me thinking: what if you actually were an alien trying to navigate human dating for the first time? From there, Blip Blarp was born. I loved the idea of using an absurd sci-fi premise to explore some very human things — vulnerability, rejection, loneliness, sex, and our sometimes hilarious attempts to connect.
NAP: What if I’m scared of aliens? How would you convince me to see your show?
AQ: When audiences leave the show, they’re happy, they’re chuckling, and they’re excited. I feel really good about the show and the experience I offer, so if you want to have a funny, silly time with a seductive alien, you’re in for a treat.
NAP: And why did you choose to land in Colchester over anywhere else in the galaxy?
AQ: Colchester has gained an amazing reputation over the last few years for attracting high-quality and interesting performances, so I’m really honoured to be part of the Fringe.
NAP: After this extra-terrestrial encounter, how are you hopeful us earth-bound humans should feel?
AQ: I hope they leave feeling lighter, a little bit cathartic, and like they’ve just had a really fun time.
Hopefully they’ll also leave with a few laughs, a few stories to tell, and perhaps a slightly different perspective on the wonderfully weird business of trying to connect with another human being.
NAP: What’s your favorite Alien movie and why?
AQ: I like so many! From Galaxy Quest to Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Men in Black, I love the creativity and silliness of alien movies.
What I particularly love about the genre is how flexible it is. You can use an alien story to create completely absurd comedy, but you can also use it as a metaphor to explore something very human. And the best ones do both.
I’m drawn to the creative details and the strange worlds these films build, but also to the way the alien itself can give us a slightly different perspective on ourselves. That’s definitely something I wanted to play with in Blip Blarp.
NAP: Other than yourself, what other drag artists inspire you to do the work you do?
AQ: I love Todrick Hall, and I also have a huge appreciation for one of the OGs, Divine.
But more than any individual drag artist, I’m inspired by the form itself — the bright, fun costumes, the dancing, the lip-syncing, the sexuality that can poke fun at itself, the palpable charisma, and, most of all, the joy and creative freedom.
With drag, you can really push the boundaries of both beauty and theatre. You can be glamorous and ridiculous, sexy and absurd, all at the same time. I love that freedom, and I think a lot of that spirit has made its way into Blip Blarp.
“Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story” is on Wed 28 October 10:00 pm and Thu 29 October 8:30 pm during Colchester Fringe. While you’re here, read about all the other weird shows happening at Fringe including Julia VanderVeen’s DENTATA, a giraffe in a g-string, and Fringe Review’s Dr.Pants and his (a play in a) DARK ROOM.
