Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Puck Bunnies: A Heated Rivalry Drag Musical Parody
Kyra Brown & Christan Leonard
Genre: Absurd Theatre, character comedy, Comedy, LGBT, LGBTQ+, Musical Theatre, Queer Comedy, Satire
Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter House
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Following sold-out shows in LA comedy theaters, nine of LA’s top queer, female and non-binary comedy performers bring a night of Heated Rivalry-themed debauchery to the gilded balloon Patter House.
Review
I can’t lie that I was confused when I realised that there was not one but two parody Heated Rivalry musicals happening at Gilded Balloons, mostly because there isn’t much about the show that screams ‘parody material’ to me. Writers Kyra Brown & Christen Leanord rise to the challenge, creating a whole number around a shared tuna melt and bringing to life a Zamboni (the machine used to resurface ice) as Zamboner, our narrator and self-confessed puck bunny (more Canadian slang: puck bunnies are the groupies of ice hockey). Their love for the source materials shines through in their performances, and they bring an infectious energy to their shenanigans on stage.
The group’s best performances are by Capri Campeau who embodies both Svetlana and Rose, Shane and Hollander’s female love interests, with the kind of unhinged insanity that I wish had been more of a feature throughout. I also thoroughly enjoyed Marinna Benzon’s performance as Ilya’s Putin-loving papa, who had me cracking up many times whenever he made an appearance. Often, though, I wished that the absurdity could have been cranked up from an 8 to a 10, where it sometimes felt it fell a little short of taking the comedy as far as it could have gone. In for a penny, in for a pound! (Wink wink.)
My favourite song of the night is ‘guys can be lesbians too’, a number about my personal favourite storyline between Kip and Scott. It’s always fun to see queerness of a different variety celebrated in a drag show, something sorely needed and missing from mainstream coverage of the art form.
While I enjoyed the series, I am by no means a superfan; I anticipate that anyone who is will have a fantastic time with this show, as evidenced by the enthusiastic reception of the audience.
Puck Bunnies is best enjoyed a few drinks down at the end of a long day out at the Fringe, for a bit of not-so-wholesome fun for the girls, gays and theys.
