Drag It Up

1. What your local drag scene like? I like to call my local drag scene "disproportionately talented". We are so overwhelmed with new drag entertainers that the rule of thumb for everyone has become: no matter what it is you do, you had better be exceptional at it. And all of our most popular entertainers are just that. 2. Who are some of the best queens you've seen or met? You have pageant queens like Gia Bianca Stephens who can own a walk like I've never seen before, fashion queens like Sister Molly Mormon who I've literally seen melt paint bombs from inside a dress she handmade, you have dancer queens like The Whore of '94 , grunge/counter-culture queens like The Harlot and Terra Flesh, and then your all-around amazing entertainers like Kay Bye. And not to oversell myself, but I feel I've carved my own slice of that scene as well. 3. What do your shows usually consist of? As Salt Lake City's resident ocean princess, I have two very d

1. What inspired you to start doing drag? I started doing drag after seeing RPDR, and I wasn't sure if I could do drag at first because I'm afab. I looked into it and sure enough, found out about drag kings as well as afab queens! 2. What's your favourite part about being onstage? The best part about being on stage is that I can be whoever I want without judgement. I grew up in a strict household where my every action was judged harshly, and it led to me stifling myself in real life. As Houston, I can be loud, colorful and most importantly, myself. 3. What is the drag scene like where you're from? The scene in OKC is like the city itself; not really huge or impressive compared to Chicago or places like that, but really blossoming compared to what it once was. 4. What issues do you feel Drag Kings face that Queens wouldn't necessarily face? Drag Kings don't have nearly the platform or publicity that Queens do. It's often that you'll see

We recently caught up with Shannel from RuPaul's Drag Race season 1 and All Stars 1 and talked about drag race and how important fan interaction is. 1. How did you first find out about drag and how old were you? My parents loved to travel to Las Vegas when I was growing up and took me to see Kenny Kerr's "Boylesque" when I was 8. 2. Who was the first person that you told you were doing drag? My mom. 3. You were the first person on Drag Race to ever remove their wig and you recently talked about it on Alaska and Willam's podcast 'Race Chaser'. What made you decide to do this? I needed to show vulnerability to the judges and found a way of doing so. 4. What was it like to be one of the first queens to ever enter RuPaul's Drag Race? I've always been ahead of my time but it has it's positives and negatives. It's amazing that it's been 10 years. But I'm still the first one who ever walked in the workroom so, that'

We recently caught up with RuPaul's Drag Race season 3 and All Stars 1 queen, Alexis Mateo about fashion, Miss Vanjie and all things drag!                                 1. How did you find out about drag and what made you decide that this is what you wanted to do? I always knew I was special but growing up I realized that I was not the best dancer or singer but I was meant to be on stage. It was not until the year 2000 when I moved to Orlando, Florida that I saw my first drag show and I fell in love with it. 2. Tell us about your first time in drag. I was a dancer at Walt Disney World and me and my roomates were short on rent money so we decided that we were all gonna enter a drag talent search that was offering $100 cash. For my surprise I won and Alexis was born. 3. You got to work with Kelly Osbourne and put her into drag during All Stars 1, what was that experience like? kelly was amazing. Very sweet and loves drag. I got to realize that celebrities are humans j

                                               1. What type of performances do you do? It depends on the gig be it comedy/horror/standard lip syncing. I'd say though comedic numbers and stand up is my favourite way to perform. 2. How long have you been doing drag for and why did you start doing it? I started four years ago but didn't actively start doing it until a year and a half ago. I started initially because I wanted to be this beautiful vision of a woman I used to paint in class. Over time though my perspective has changed. Now I use it to express myself more creatively through makeup as an art form. 3. What part of doing makeup is the hardest or most stressful for you? Starting. I dread it up until I start applying it and then I love it. As Bob Ross says, there are no mistakes only happy accidents. 4. What's one thing you didn't know about drag that you know now?  You're not Beyonce so always stay humble. You'll always find new ways to lea