Tora’s balls ready to drop

By Teddy Rose

Multi DIVA winner Tora Hymen has been spinning bingo balls in straight bars for six years.
Now she’s the star attraction at Sydney’s most treasured, raucous and longest-running charity fundraiser — Bingay.
Bingay queen Mitzi Macintosh, who dedicated more than 10 years to the weekly event and raised almost $1 million for charity, personally selected the popular So You Think You Can Drag star to fill her fabulous heels.
“I was headhunted by Mitzi — I’d hosted Bingay once before and it was really fun, it has a dedicated audience,” Hymen told Sydney Star Observer.
“It’s exciting to work for ACON. It’s for a good cause and it will be fantastic to work with people who really care about what they are doing.”
While she plans to put her own stamp on Bingay, Hymen said for the moment she is focused on fitting into the demands of the well-established event.
“It’s like a passing of the torch and I have my training wheels on at the moment,” she said.
“Bingay has been going on for so long and it has so many different systems in place. It’s not so much the bingo. It’s the little things — the calls, the jokes. It’s a lot to take in to make it run smoothly.”
And while respectful of the event’s decade-long history, Hymen said she is considering some alterations to Bingay, though diehard fans should not be alarmed.
“Naomi and I have been working on a few things for when it moves back to the Imperial,” she said.
“Some of the bingo calls will change over time to make it a bit more personal.
“We will be refreshing things, but you have to stay true to what people know and what they expect.
“I want people to remember it’s a really fun night out with lots of laughs. It’s a great fundraiser and no matter how much we change it is still going to be Bingay.”

info: Bingay is held every Tuesday at the Sly Fox from 8pm. Bookings: 9206 2110.