Art Simone's Kick Ons celebrates down under drag in the best way

As part of her run on Drag Race Down Under vs the World, icon Art Simone has taken her award-winning recap show, Kick Ons, live for its final season. And we can’t think of a better celebration of down under drag.

The series was formed when the second season of Drag Race Down Under (DRDU) launched.

The creative team included Art, Jules, the tradie of the season, Tro, and the not-yet-crowned winner of DRDU season four, Lazy Susan.

The team made the YouTube series Art Therapy during DRDU’s first season, as well as the WOW Presents Plus series Highway to Heel.

They first worked together while filming an AAMI ad campaign.

Before season four of DRDU aired, QNews sat down with Mum and Art Simon on the set of Kick Ons in Lazy Susan’s garage.

“There wasn’t the love or appreciation of down under drag,” Mum told us. “We decided with season two to put our spin on the YouTube series The Pit Stop.”

Art shared that when the series first airdropped, they expected negativity.

“But when you look at the comments section of the episodes, there’s so much positivity, joy and excitement,” Art said.

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‘We can fit in far more people at UBQ than in Lazy Susan’s back shed’

As part of the inaugural all-stars season of Drag Down Under vs the World featuring Art (in the final top four no less), Kick Ons returned, but in an elevated format.

For its final season, the series is being filmed live in front of an audience at Melbourne’s UBQ. And it has been the most amazing way to experience and celebrate down under drag.

(And before you ask, no, there aren’t any tickets left for the grand final screening this Friday.)

UBQ on Smith Street is a level up for the series, with a whole new set of technical requirements.

“We can fit in far more people at UBQ than in Lazy Susan’s back shed, which is where we usually film Kick Ons,” Jules shared.

“I think the main thing for us is that we get all these views online, but I’d never thought about them as actual humans. To have a room full of people who are screaming and know the jokes from Kick Ons is amazing. We feel proud of what we’ve made.”

Behind the scenes at Kick Ons live
Photo by Dean Arcuri

Kick Ons in front of a live audience for the first time

“Drag is so much more than Drag Race, as much as we love it,” Jules added.

“When we saw the first season of Drag Race Down Under, as much as it’s wonderful to have that kind of show platform our drag, some of the local references were getting missed. So we wanted to be a local voice, so if the American judges didn’t know the law behind things, we could be the ones to explain that local language.

“When we did our first episode at UBQ, I started very nervous, sweaty, and stressed. Obviously, this is a completely new tech environment. But the people at UBQ, Mitchell in particular, have been a godsend. You need something with tech or to sound great, he’s your man, and these are your people.”

“All my anxiety melted away when people started coming through the door, and you could see their joy in person.”

For Art, being able to perform the series in front of a live audience has been amazing.

“For the first three seasons we were doing it to absolutely no one,” Art recalled, ” But it’s a show where we want to hear laughs and fun and feedback. So being able to finally do it with an audience is incredible.”

“It’s been so special. Drag Race doesn’t spotlight and platform the entire breadth of the Australian drag community, because only a certain type of queen can compete on the show. It’s only built for a certain type of queen. So through our platform, we’ve been able to highlight and champion all different types of Australian drag.”

‘We made magic from nothing’

The live seasons of Kick Ons have had guests from previous DRDU seasons, as well as local drag legends including Vanity, Bruno Salsicce, Kane Enable and more. But the true joy for Art has been doing the show in front of an audience.

“It’s been really beautiful; a full homecoming,” she said. “This is a wonderful way to close out Kick Ons. It’s our final season, and what better way to do it than to celebrate with my friends, my family, my peers, and my community.”

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Is it the final season of Kick Ons because Art is feeling confident about being in the top four of Drag Race Down Under vs the World?

“No,” she laughed, “It is the final season because we want to end on a high, and I am tired. We’re all tired. Plus we’ve been evicted from Lazy Susan’s garage. So this is it. This is the end, and we’re having a bloody good time.”

“We made magic from nothing. We ran the first season of Kick Ons on a dream and the scent of an oil rag. It was in a precarious position above Lazy Susan’s garage, with a few leaks and a lot of sound and noise pollution; but we made it work. And I tell you what, the audience loves it, and I think that’s what made it extra special.”

While there is only one more episode of Kick Ons to film and host live, the Drag Race Down Under vs the World finale, there aren’t any tickets left, so you’ll just have to enjoy watching it online.

But before we sign off, we thought we would share some of our fav moments (so far) from the current season of Kick Ons.