I've loved the RuPaul model of drag, where you're an amazing drag queen, you're a smart and savvy business person, and you use those together to keep drag at the forefront of what people are talking about.
Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the old days when drag was fun, not personal.
I think we've seen every type of drag come across the stage of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' and there is no end in sight of what can be on the stage.
When I was on 'Drag Race,' it felt like a serious competition going on between drag queens... and then Katya and I were also there.
I want to do something that is not just a pastiche of drag that's come before but is really authentically me. I try to tune out all the drag that's out there and tap into the drag that I was doing when I was a little kid - when I didn't even know the word 'queer' or that gay people were out there.
Antoine and Sahara Davenport were really able to help me learn about drag. We really fed off each other. Together, we just clicked. We were both part of 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' so we both got to go through this experience together.
I had a drag mom but she didn't really teach me about makeup. She just basically stuck me into gigs. And then I borrowed clothes from her and her drag to play the gigs.
I hate - I hate - queens coming on and doing boy drag on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' because I feel like it's not edgy; it's not different. You can see it anywhere.
I consider myself an artist, but instead of paint or clay, my medium is drag. I put so much of myself into my drag from every detail of the costume, makeup and hair to my performance, the way I speak or even stand.
There's drag queens who lip sync brilliantly. There's drag queens who sing live brilliantly - none of those are me.
I can always spot an Australian queen by her high, high end wig. Australian drag queens have the best hair in the world - the best.
I come from what we call the pre-'Drag Race' drag world where I didn't start doing this with aspirations of being a reality television star, or this going any further than the small smoky bars of Pittsburgh.
I want to follow in RuPaul's footsteps, which is that combination of not just personal stardom but to really transform myself into a producer of drag. That's the way to make a lasting impact on the world of drag and... to make actual differences in the queer community. I think there's no better model for that than RuPaul.
I always say you can be great at drag and not great at 'Drag Race,' and you can be great at 'Drag Race' and not great at drag.
