Snatch Game

Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the Drag Race television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series.^[1] Since the second season of the original American RuPaul's Drag Race series in 2010, the challenge has returned for every subsequent season. Typically arranged as a parody of Match Game (known as Blankety Blank in the UK, Blankety Blanks in Australia, and Jogo dos Pontinhos in Brazil), the challenge is a test of the contestants' skills at celebrity impersonation and improvisational comedy.

The challenge similarly recurs on various spin-offs, including All Stars and Secret Celebrity Drag Race, as well as the international adaptations for Thai, British, Canadian,^[2] Dutch, Australian-New Zealand, Spanish, Italian, French, Philippine, Belgian, Swedish, Mexican, Brazilian, and German audiences.

Usually occurring midway through each Drag Race season, Snatch Game is widely considered among the most important and memorable challenges of the show and, in RuPaul's own words, separates "the basic bitches from the fierce-ass queens."^[3] Winners of the show are often amongst the top performers in the Snatch Game,^[a] though there are a few exceptions.^[b]

The drag queen contestants typically impersonate women, though several contestants choose male celebrities with sufficiently flamboyant public images to fit a drag aesthetic.^[4] Several contestants have chosen to impersonate other people directly associated with the show, such as other past or present contestants, Michelle Visage, or RuPaul.^[5] Queens cannot choose copyrighted characters,^[6] although some celebrity portrayals have been closely based on a specific screen performance.^[4]

The challenge often relies on special celebrity guests to participate in game play, who frequently double as the episode's guest judges. Other seasons feature the show's regular production team—Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, Carson Kressley, Rhys Nicholson, or members of the Pit Crew—in lieu of outside guests.

Ginger Minj has won Snatch Game three times, the most of any queen in the franchise. Eight other queens have won Snatch Game twice: BenDeLaCreme, Baga Chipz, Jinkx Monsoon, Trinity the Tuck, Jimbo, Hannah Conda, Gottmik and Punani. Three queens have been eliminated twice for their Snatch Game performances: Gia Gunn, Onyx Unleashed and Cynthia Lee Fontaine.

United States

Legend:

RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars

RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars

RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race

International

Legend:

Canada's Drag Race

Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World

Drag Race Belgique

Drag Race Brasil

Drag Race España

Drag Race España All Stars

Drag Race France

Drag Race France All Stars

Drag Race Germany

Drag Race Holland

Drag Race Italia

Drag Race México

Cristian Peralta won the Snatch Game challenge on the first season of Drag Race México for portraying Verónica Castro. Luna Lansman won on the second season for impersonating José José.

Drag Race Philippines

Xilhouete won the Snatch Game challenge for impersonating Vicki Belo on the first season of Drag Race Philippines. Captivating Katkat and Angel won on the second and third seasons for impersonating Joy Belmonte and Maria Clara, respectively.

Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale

On the spin-off series Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale, contestants impersonated celebrities in a version of Snatch Game called "Snatch Elections".

Drag Race Sverige

Drag Race Thailand

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under

RuPaul's Drag Race UK

RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World

Celebrities impersonated multiple times

Cardi B is the most frequently impersonated celebrity. Jennifer Coolidge is the second most frequently impersonated celebrity and the first to be simultaneously impersonated by two competing queens in the same Snatch Game followed only by Liberace. Both queens who impersonated Mariah Carey and two of the five queens who impersonated Cardi B were eliminated, making them the only choices of impersonation subject to lead to multiple contestants' eliminations. Both of the queens to impersonate Ariana Grande, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Nancy Grace, and Rue McClanahan, respectively, and two of the three queens to impersonate Lady Gaga were up for elimination due to their performances, but only one queen was eliminated for each. Two of the four queens to impersonate Eartha Kitt, and two of the three queens to impersonate Cher and RuPaul, respectively, landed in the bottom, but none of them were eliminated. Three of the four queens to impersonate Liza Minnelli won the Snatch Game, making her the first impersonation subject to earn multiple queens a win, while Joan Rivers became the second following season 15 of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Reception

Snatch Game is considered the signature challenge on the show.^[15] Kevin O'Keeffe from Into discusses that the challenge isn't only about the celebrity impersonation and RuPaul looks for accuracy, humor, and the idea of the character. He also states that the challenge tests a lot of different skills, such as the queens' ability to put on a different look from their signature one, and also their ability to be "funny on a dime".^[16] RuPaul states each year, as the challenge is introduced, that the cardinal rule of the challenge is to make him laugh.^[5]

Writing for Vulture, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers state that "Snatch Game" is "the mother of all comedy challenges on a reality show" despite the varied results over the years.^[17] On a more critical reception of the challenge, Josh Lee, for PopBuzz, argues that while the annual challenge has given viewers some of the best moments from RuPaul's Drag Race, it is starting to feel stale overall. He comments that recent celebrity impersonations in the challenge have been lackluster and the show should adapt and retire "Snatch Game" in future seasons of the series.^[18]

Notes

1. ^ In all the seasons to include the Snatch Game, these queens (Jinkx Monsoon [twice], Bob the Drag Queen, Aquaria, Alaska, Trinity the Tuck, Shea Couleé, Natalia Pliacam, The Vivienne, Envy Peru, Sharonne, Blu Hydrangea, Gisèle Lullaby, La Diamond, Ra'Jah O'Hara, Admira Thunderpussy, Jimbo, Cristian Peralta, Captivating Katkat, Ginger Johnson, and Ginger Minj) who won the Snatch Game went on to win their seasons.
2. ^ In all the seasons to include Snatch Game, only five queens (Yvie Oddly, Willow Pill, Trixie Mattel, Priyanka, and Lawrence Chaney) who placed in the bottom for the Snatch Game went on to win their seasons.
3. ^ as Mary Lee Johnston from Precious
4. ^ as Faye Dunaway's portrayal of Crawford in Mommie Dearest
5. ^ as Violet Crawley from Downton Abbey
6. ^ as Fran Fine from The Nanny
7. ^ as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren from Orange is the New Black
8. ^ a parodic Kim Jong-un's sister
9. ^ as Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls
10. ^ was eliminated in the following episode due to seven queens landing in the bottom.
11. ^ As a twist, the contestants were split in two groups to compete in two separate Snatch Games.
12. ^ a parodic Gordon Ramsay's sister
13. ^ a parodic Trina's cousin
14. ^ a voiced prop
15. ^ as Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors
16. ^ Parody of Tina Onassis Niarchos.
17. ^ Kristin Chenoweth joined the contestants as an additional panelist, portraying herself.
18. ^ as Samantha Jones from Sex and the City
19. ^ As a twist, the contestants were asked to portray two separate celebrities in two separate Snatch Games.
20. ^ as Sheneneh Jenkins from Martin
21. ^ as Patsy Stone from Absolutely Fabulous
22. ^ as Joanie Taylor from The Catherine Tate Show
23. ^ a fictional character Roxxxy portrayed on RuPaul's Drag Race season 5 and All Stars 2
24. ^ as Manny the Fanny from Leguizamo's one-man show Mambo Mouth
25. ^ as Sue Sylvester from Glee
26. ^ a satirical version of King Kong
27. ^ A parodic Kevin Hart's sister
28. ^ as Lucille Esmeralda "Lucy" McGillicuddy Ricardo from I Love Lucy
29. ^ Bob the Drag Queen joined the contestants as an additional panelist, portraying herself.
30. ^ as Ziggy Stardust from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
31. ^ as Ace Ventura from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
32. ^ as Donatella Versace
33. ^ as Zeus
34. ^ as an infant
35. ^ a parodic Gollum's cousin
36. ^ as Criquette Rockwell from Le cœur a ses raisons
37. ^ a woman from a La Manif pour tous protest famously mocked on Le Petit Journal
38. ^ from the viral video Las vecinas de Valencia
39. ^ Special guest Pupi Poisson reenacted her season one impersonation of Karina, who was also a celebrity guest alongside Pupi.
40. ^ Credited as Pepa Pink.
41. ^ a fictional character portrayed by Santiago Segura in the Torrente film series.
42. ^ Credited as "Cierto Ratón Famoso"
43. ^ Credited as "Harry El Petas"
44. ^ As a twist, the contestants were asked to switch to a second character mid-Snatch Game.
45. ^ as Terminator from the Terminator franchise
46. ^ Credited as Frau Wollny.
47. ^ Credited as Mega Mega Mindy.
48. ^ Special guest Vincenzo De Lucia took part in the Snatch Game portraying Barbara D'Urso, intervening in various sketches making parodies about the character and the show Pomeriggio Cinque.
49. ^ Credited as Pinguino.
50. ^ Guest judge Tiziano Ferro took part in the Snatch Game as the host.
51. ^ Credited as Il Testone.
52. ^ Credited as Mano Drag.
53. ^ as Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada
54. ^ as Mook from The White Lotus
55. ^ as Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek
56. ^ as Lynne Postlethwaite from The D-Generation
57. ^ as Humphries' drag character Dame Edna Everage
58. ^ as Trude from Kath & Kim
59. ^ as Kath Day-Knight from Kath & Kim
60. ^ as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde
61. ^ as Rasputia Latimore from Norbit
62. ^ as Vicky Pollard from Little Britain
63. ^ Credited as Psychic Sally.
64. ^ as Kath Day-Knight from Kath & Kim
65. ^ as Sue Tuke from Charity Shop Sue
66. ^ as Kevin McCallister from the Home Alone films
67. ^ as Gladys Kingston from Little Miss Jocelyn
68. ^ Credited as Sainty Paddy.
69. ^ as Bernie and Derek Faye from The Catherine Tate Show
70. ^ as Mrs. Doubtfire from Mrs. Doubtfire
71. ^ portrayed as having just auditioned for the role of Mary Poppins played by Julie Andrews
72. ^ credited as "chair"
73. ^ as Lady Cassandra from Doctor Who
74. ^ as Precious Little from Come Fly with Me
75. ^ as Annie Wilkes from Misery
76. ^ first as Austin Powers and then as Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers series of films
77. ^ as Pray Tell from Pose
78. ^ a satirical gay brother of Adolf Hitler

References

1. ^ "Where Are Your Favorite Queens from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 1?". TV Guide. February 2, 2019. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
2. ^ Joey Nolfi, "Canada's Drag Race first look serves Canadian bacon with a side of fish". Entertainment Weekly, May 19, 2020.
3. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' episode 6 recap: Which queen won Snatch Game?" Archived 2019-04-19 at the Wayback Machine. Mic, April 28, 2017.
4. ^ "The 10 Tightest Snatch Game Characters on RuPaul's Drag Race" Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Vulture, May 4, 2017.
5. ^ "Bob the Drag Queen on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 9's Snatch Game". Teen Vogue, May 1, 2017.
6. ^ RuPaul, "Characters are copyrighted. RT @SickeningHunty: Why are "characters" not allowed in Snatch Game?". Twitter, April 12, 2015.
7. ^ Rezsnyak, Eric. ""RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 5: Snatch Game Wrap-Up". City Newspaper. Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
8. ^ Reid, Alexander Abad-Santos, Joe (2014-03-25). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Power Rankings: The Snatch Game Edition". The Atlantic. Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
9. ^ Petersen, Sven (2014-03-25). "'Drag Race' Aired The Best Episode Ever. But Did It Go Too Far?". www.queerty.com. Archived 2016-04-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
10. ^ Carpentier, Megan & Rushe, Dominic (2015-04-14). "RuPaul's Drag Race recap – season seven, episode seven: Snatch Game". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
11. ^ Megarry, Daniel (April 4, 2019). "Drag Race season 11 is doing Snatch Game with a twist…". Gay Times. Archived April 4, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
12. ^ "A stellar lip-sync bails out RuPaul's Drag Race's rocky “Snatch Game At Sea”"
13. ^ everyone, culture For (February 16, 2018). "'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3' Episode 4 Recap: Who Won Snatch Game?". HuffPost. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
14. ^ Kulzick, Kate (29 December 2018). "Drag Race's latest twist pays off as the All Stars play the "Snatch Game Of Love"". The A.V. Club. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
15. ^ O'Keeffe, Kevin (September 9, 2018). "What Makes for a Great 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Snatch Game?". Into. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
16. ^ "Snatch Game, The Kiki Ep 5". intomore. September 9, 2018. Archived March 30, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
17. ^ "Every Snatch Game Impersonation on RuPaul's Drag Race, Ranked". Vulture. May 3, 2018. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
18. ^ Lee, Josh (September 21, 2018). "I'm Sorry My Dear But It's Time To Retire Snatch Game". PopBuzz. Archived March 27, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 26, 2019.