The Stranger

Drag Race Episode Seven: The Rudemption of Myki Meeks

Mike Kohfeld — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:01:00 -0800

We’re finally done with Rate-A-Queen! The cast is back to our regularly scheduled programming with parodies of hot-button political issues. In the words of Jane Don’t, “it’s a good day to be a clown.” by Mike Kohfeld

“Y’all are playing chess, I’m playing checkers. Wait, what’s the thing?”

Episode Seven began with the queens still reeling from their two-week Rate-A-Queen ordeal, in which the Miami alliance came out on top.

On Drag Race, queens love to talk too much after winning challenges or getting safe placements. Athena did the same, insisting her play was honest and not at all about strategy while the other queens rolled their eyes. When you’ve just won a challenge, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

As if this wasn’t enough, the queens were given the Rate-A-Queen receipts. Mia looked stressed to see her ratings exposed… as if the producers were going to let any opportunity for drama to slide. Nini was pissed that everyone had given her mid-ratings for her Mother Mantis bit, and let it get into her head: “Does everybody not like me?”

Kenya was pleased to have avoided the bottom through her alliance-building. “Y’all are playing chess, I’m playing checkers. Wait, what’s the thing?” Bless her.

Myki Meeks was rated in the bottom by the queens despite having a strong talent act, and the receipts nearly brought her to tears. In a T-shirt that said REVENGE, Myki looked ready to prove herself this week. Maybe she’ll go full Arya Stark and start snatching faces.

Emmy-Baiting Drag Politics

If you’re not living under a rock, you know the 2026 midterm elections are going to be crucial for prying at least a little bit of power away from the world’s worst people. Drag Race celebrated the occasion by bringing us “totally twisted political ads that parody today’s most polarizing issues.” RuPaul added: “I deserve a fucking Emmy for that line.”

The queens had a serious moment talking about the difficulty of living in red states with drag bans and the rise of violence against queer people during Trump’s second term. The most visceral account was Discord’s experience with a lifetime friend and roommate. Radicalized by right-wing anti-queer rhetoric seemingly overnight, they destroyed almost all of Discord’s drag and artwork. Discord compared the current conservative movement to a cult. Hear, hear.

Mia balanced out the heaviness of the political discussion with a spontaneous dance party. It was the kind of genuine moment that has been missing in contemporary seasons of Drag Race.

The Future Liberals Want: Foreign Trade and Breastplate Socialism

The Main Challenge began when the queens were given five propositions on draggy subjects like breastplate entitlements, kai kai bans, and adding clowns to the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, paralleling real-world issues like bodily autonomy, trans rights, and immigration. I had to remind myself that this is a reality television show about drag queens acting stupid, but was interested to see how the cast would navigate the line between comedy and critique.

Discord and Nini did a sound job with “Prop Kiki.” Discord adopted a pro-kai kai stance as the sultry, sister-loving Lydia Liquorup. (Queer vocabulary lesson #1: to kiki is to chat, gossip, or tell stories; kai kai refers to sexual relations between drag queens.) Discord’s stage-whispered hook, “date a sister,” is destined to become a queer vocal stim in the manner of Valentina and Naomi Smalls’ “Club 96” (All Stars Season 4) or Alaska’s “your makeup is terrible” (Season 5). Nini struggled while recording the skit, but turned out a conservative church lady arguing against sister-dating, keeping the pair safe.

Darlene and Vita could not have been more dissimilar in their performances for “Prop 4Real.” Vita has struggled in past performance challenges, and this week was no different. She landed in the bottom for her stiff portrayal of a “traditional” drag queen.

In contrast, Darlene’s “bedroom queen bimbo” was hysterical, with the judges calling her performance “really stupid.” So stupid, in fact, that Darlene earned a top placement for the week.

Athena and Myki had fully-realized and memorable characters for “Prop 6969,” which sought to ban foreign trade (Queer vocabulary lesson #2: “trade” is queer slang for a masculine, straight-acting man).

Athena sold us an eerily convincing Republicanesque character named Connie Cumminside against Prop 6969. Her lustful desire to ban trade was giving MAGA backlash to Bad Bunny’s recent Super Bowl LX performance.

Myki was the standout of the week, with a punny performance arguing for steamy relations with foreign trade: “I’m concerned American citizen Stephanie Miller. But you can call me Lollipop!” Her playful irreverence won her the challenge. It felt like a karmic rebalance after Rate-A-Queen.

Meanwhile, Mia and Juicy struggled to write material for “Prop DD,” where Mia argued to require breastplates and padding for all drag queens while Juicy embraced a natural, environmentally-friendly “hog body.” Mia got some laughs, but Juicy floundered.

The pair fell into the bottom three. (If there had been a lip-sync-for-your-life between Mia and Juicy this week after they tied in a lip-sync-for-the-win two episodes ago, my wig would have flown into the troposphere.)

Can Somebody Just Treat My Gonorrhea?

Jane Don’t and Kenya worked together for “Prop C,” naming the pros and cons for adding clowns to the LGBTQIA acronym. Arguing against Prop C, Kenya played a decorated diva concerned about how “drag bars have been held captive by silly-ass drag queens who prioritize jokes and concepts over gowns.” Not in Seattle, surely! *clutches pearls*

Jane Don’t played Daisy Funbuttons, the gonorrhea-ridden Professor of Nose-Honking at Pacoima Community Clown College (this is literally the stupidest sentence I’ve ever written). Her performance was Drag Race comedy perfection, and she was ranked in the top by the judges. We really need to just crown her now. Or at the very least, get her some antibiotics.

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I Can See Right Through Her

These Season 18 girls brought some serious budget to the main stage, and the see-through outfits of Episode Seven did not disappoint.

Nini’s candy-wrapper look was sublime. If winning was solely about runway looks, Nini would be in the number one spot.

Jane’s Leigh Bowery-inspired checkered bodysuit with a short sheer pink dress fit the brief, but wasn’t as spectacular as her past looks. I later learned that she crafted it last-minute because her original designer didn’t deliver this look on time. What is it with late designers for these queens!?

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For her see-through business suit, Myki Meeks expressed, “the quality I cherish most in a workplace is transparency.” Snaps, girl. The judges loved it too, with RuPaul exclaiming, “this is what the whores wear in Seattle!” Maybe Myki can come live here, too.

Vita’s Last Act

Juicy’s Met Gala-worthy tulle fantasy and Vita’s divine water goddess (it was giving Yemayá) were superb, but their performances landed them in the bottom. The rest of the cast reacted with shock. “Vita versus Juicy? Two people I thought were gonna make it to the end!” said Discord. “I don’t even wanna watch this.”

But this was must-see TV. Vita held her own, but there is no stopping the elemental force that is Juicy Love Dion on the mainstage. Set to Dua Lipa’s “Houdini,” Juicy swept the lip-sync with grace, emotion, and jaw-dropping skill, including a handstand that tipped backwards into a split. There was no way RuPaul was going to let Juicy sashay away, and Vita was given the boot. I hope to see her in All Stars!

Next week, it’s the challenge you’ve been waiting for (or dreading): Snatch Game! Either way, this is not one to miss. I’m ready for Jane to earn a second win!

Drag Race Episode Six: It’s the State of Florida vs. Jane Don’t

Mike Kohfeld — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:07:00 -0800

Drag Race Episode Six, the end of Rate-a-Queen. by Mike Kohfeld

This week, we wrapped up Season 18’s Rate-A-Queen talent show. Some queens showed that savvy strategy can outweigh a mid performance, but others *cough* Jane Don’t *cough* proved that reality TV shenanigans will never eclipse star quality. Let’s get into it.

The End of Glam

Ciara Myst, the lovable oddball from Indy, took center stage after being rated in the lowest position by her fellow queens last week. Her fate depended on the second round of Rate-A-Queen, as she would have to lip-sync against the lowest rated queen this week to save herself from elimination.

In the werkroom, Ciara, Vita, Darlene, Juicy, Nini, and Mia put their heads together to strategize for Rate-A-Queen before the second round of talent performances. Ciara thought she’d be able to out-perform Discord in a lip-sync battle, so she quietly asked her Team Glam sisters to rate Discord in the bottom regardless of how well Discord did in the talent show.

It didn’t take Juicy and Vita long to spill this tea to their buddy Discord, who wasn’t shaken by the challenge (though, we got a great cutaway of her pretending to be a Britney Spears superfan to out-psych Ciara). Ultimately, Discord’s punk rock performance was solid enough to keep her safe this week. Her glittering, bloody CEO runway look didn’t impress the judges, but its anticapitalist edge struck the right chord for me. Discord Mangione, anyone?

During a walkthrough, Michelle Visage called out Kenya for fumbling her lyrics during her lip-sync against Briar in Episode Four. “Drag queens’ number one job is to lip-sync, and to know their words,” Visage warned as she pointed a long red nail at Kenya. “Learn your lyrics.”

Kenya was shook, and sure enough, she missed several many more words while lip-syncing to her own song during her talent performance. However, Kenya’s alliance with the Miami girls paid off, and she was rated safe.

Myki Meeks of Orlando (aka Arya Stark who grows up to be BenDeLaCreme) learned that being everyone’s friend but nobody’s best friend is the silent killer during Rate-A-Queen. Her Bride of Frankenstein striptease number was a hit. We’ve seen burlesque many times on Drag Race, but bejeweled entrails? Gore-geous.

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Unfortunately, this is Rate-A-Queen, and Myki’s relationships were not strong enough to support her talent. She was rated last, falling into the bottom two alongside Ciara. RIP Glam Alliance, you really had no chance.

The Dion Dynasty

Athena “The Godmother” Dion protested against strategy-based play this week, claiming the rating should be based purely on performance. Either this was a ploy or she needs her memory checked, because she spent most of last week making arrangements for her drag family Juicy and Mia to receive top placements in Rate-A-Queen.

For her runway and performance, Athena leaned heavily into her Greek heritage. Her surreal evil-eye (mati) themed dress was a perfect blend of camp, glamour, and culture. As for the talent show, her Greek-themed variety act was solid but not show-stopping. The word “quaint” came to mind.

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But Rate-A-Queen is not about who has the best talent performance: it’s about leveraging relationships. Athena’s strategy of stacking votes in her favor by putting her Miami sisters on the judging panel during her performance was a brilliant move, and she was rated in the top two for Episode Six.

Jane Don’t vs. the (Allegedly) Illiterate Floridians

Jane Don’t may not have had a drag family to back her up in voting this week, but she didn’t need it.

The most effective drag artists are master historians, remixing references that transport the audience out of reality. On Drag Race, RuPaul has often said that drag queens need to be pop culture experts and rewards queens who know their shit, even when the references are relatively obscure. Seattle’s Jinkx Monsoon was a great example of this, introducing an entire generation to Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale during Season 5’s Snatch Game.

By Episode Six, Jane has proven she has a Ph.D. in Gay Culture. She described her exquisitely feathered chartreuse runway piece as “Galliano for Dior, refracted into this very musketeer 17th-century French moment,” which is queer word salad for “a really fucking cool look.” Even Michelle Visage, who famously hates the color green, had nothing negative to say about Jane’s runway.

Jane knew that her cabaret act inspired by Bette Midler would immediately read for the judges, because this bitch does her homework. She was less confident that the other queens would understand the reference, especially since half of them are allegedly illiterate Floridians.

If the other queens didn’t pick up the Bette Midler, it didn’t matter. Jane’s act was a winning blend of risqué humor, saloon girl style, and loads of confidence. She was voted into the top alongside Athena during the Rate-A-Queen deliberations. On Drag Race, it really doesn’t get much better than lyrics like “No train of thought, but a nice caboose.”

“We’re lip-syncing a punk song and she’s dressed as Donald Duck”

At the end of Episode Six, Jane and Athena, our top two, faced off for the win to “Jerkin” by Australian punk band Amyl and the Sniffers (vocalist Amy Taylor was the guest judge). Jane figured she’d have an easy win. “We’re lip-syncing a punk song and she’s dressed as Donald Duck,” referring to Athena’s glitzy Greek granny-core talent look. However, Athena turned it out, cementing Dion supremacy for a second week in a row. Her win was well-deserved given how well she played the social game of Rate-A-Queen. (And still, Jane’s been in the top for every episode so far. The only thing keeping Jane from winning Season 18 at this point is a Rate-A-Queen finale.) The real winner of this lip-sync, though, was Nini Coco’s neon-Teletubbie-meets-infinity-labia runway look. Seeing her bobbing back and forth beyond Jane and Athena was sending me.

The aforementioned labia. MTV

As much as we love Discord and Kenya, they were saved by the Rate-A-Queen rules this week. A shocked Myki Meeks was declared the bottom queen, and she lip-synced against Ciara to Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”.

The lip-sync concluded, but before RuPaul could pass judgement, she turned to Michelle Visage and said quietly, “This song was Season 4. Jiggly did it.”

“Bless her,” Michelle replied.

(Quick herstory lesson: After competing on Drag Race and Drag Race All Stars, fan favorite Jiggly Caliente became a judge on Drag Race Philippines and also had featured roles on Broad City and Pose. She tragically passed away in 2025 due to complications from sepsis after an emergency surgery. I couldn’t help but think of Briar Blush, who had just been hospitalized for sepsis after filming Season 18.)

My reverie was broken by RuPaul announcing Myki as the winner of the lip-sync.This came as no surprise—the only reason why Myki was in the bottom this week was because of Rate-A-Queen shenanigans. Ciara Myst was asked to sashay away.

Next week, the queens are tasked with creating political ads (!) plus, the cast get the Rate-A-Queen receipts. It’ll be like the producers throwing a ham hock to a pack of starving wolves. Let the drama roll!

Drag Race Episode Five: Return of Rate-A-Queen

Mike Kohfeld — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:11:00 -0800

Episode Five tapped the brakes on Season 18 with the Rate-A-Queen Talent Show. This two-episode story arc suspends the conventional Drag Race challenges and culminates in only a single elimination, but we get to see the queens in a solo performance format. After last week’s “Faintgate,” I am absolutely ready for a gay-ass variety show. by Mike Kohfeld

Episode Five tapped the brakes on Season 18 with the Rate-A-Queen Talent Show. This two-episode story arc suspends the conventional Drag Race challenges and culminates in only a single elimination, but we get to see the queens in a solo performance format.

After last week’s “Faintgate,” I am absolutely ready for a gay-ass variety show.

There’s Friendships, Lovers, and Barbecues

Rate-A-Queen splits the cast in two: in week one, half the cast performs and the other half judges; then in week two, their roles reverse. The highest rated queens lip-sync for the win while the lowest rated queens of each week are declared the bottom two and must lip-sync-for-their-lives.

We’ve seen Rate-A-Queen in previous seasons, but it’s always been part of the premiere, before the queens get a sense of who’s-who in the competition. As a result, the ranking has historically been less about strategy and more about genuine reactions to the performances. So Season 18 threw a curveball when it put Rate-A-Queen in Week Five, after the queens have built friendships… and have had plenty of time to size up their competition. Kenya, who had wanted to kick off Episode One with the talent show, did not understand why they’d play Rate-A-Queen in the middle of the season. “We already know each other! There’s friendships. There’s lovers. There’s barbecues.” I’m waiting for an invite to that barbecue.

Our local queen and frontrunner Jane Don’t worried that the other queens would rate her in the bottom regardless of how well she does in the talent show simply to eliminate a threat. “I planned to be judged by RuPaul,” Jane grumbled, “but now I’m being judged by a bunch of bitches from Florida who can’t read.”

The Miami girls—mother/daughter Athena and Juicy, plus “Auntie” Mia—had a natural alliance, and Athena quickly snagged Kenya as a fourth vote in her favor. But it was team GLAM! from the Q-Pop Girl Groups challenge that emerged as the superpower of the episode: Nini, Mia, Ciara, Myki, and Kenya (yes, Kenya is playing both sides. Werk!). They strategically split themselves between the two talent performances so they could rate each other highly in each episode.

The storyline potential of Rate-A-Queen is more useful at the top of a season, when the slower pace gives audiences time to get to know the full cast. Here, it felt like a loss of momentum at a critical point in the season, when viewers are more likely to tune out for a non-elimination episode that felt more like Survivor than RuPaul’s Drag Race. (Give us a Mini-Challenge! I will die on this hill.)

Mama Mia, Starr On the Rise

This week’s performers were Ciara Myst, Juicy Love Dion, Nini Coco, Vita VonTesse Starr, Darlene Mitchell, and Mia Starr, while the remaining queens rated their performances. Each queen got 60 seconds to prove their star quality.

Nini treated us to her genius Mother Mantis routine in the talent show, but got mid-ratings by her castmates for her act of drag déjà vu. Darlene did a campy country song about screws, nails, and drills and Vita gave us a shaky aerobics routine. All three were rated safe. One would think a savvy queen would use frontrunner Vita’s slip-up in this episode to put her in the bottom, but no. These queens are not built for Survivor-style play.

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Ciara went with an unconventional lip-sync to a raw piece of original poetry about her struggles with depression that highlighted her exquisite costume construction, but it did not translate well to the Drag Race mainstage, and her performance was rated last by the queens.

Mia and Juicy proved that Drag Race is really all about splits, tricks, and death drops. (Sigh.) As far as drag goes, I’ve always been more attracted to the weird, cerebral, and unconventional (AKA Seattle vibes), so the polished, dancing Drag Race diva act feels tired to me. I literally groaned aloud when judge Ross Matthews said that Ciara’s poetry performance needed a death drop to grab his attention.

Flips and dips may not be my cup of tea, but the Miami girls killed it. Juicy did an exquisite dance number in Ready Player One drag, skillfully shimmying across every inch of the mainstage. Mia brought us Y2K video ho with a smart mashup of hip hop dance and drag excellence. Go listen to “Mama Mia [Runway Mix]” by Mia Starr: it’ll cure whatever ails you, I promise.

Ultimately, the “most hated girls in Miami” got their way (thanks, Mama Athena). Juicy and Mia were rated as the top two queens by their peers. This marked a turning point for Mia: she’s finally getting a top-four edit rather than the “filler queen” cut she’s had in past weeks.

Juicy and Mia lip-synced-for-the-win to guest judge Zara Larsson’s “Pretty Ugly.” This high-energy pop track became the perfect soundtrack for a hung jury: RuPaul declared a tie after an epic auntie-niece dance-off.

Larsson also treated us to a Swedish translation of RuPaul’s classic “good luck, and don’t fuck it up”: “Nu har du skitit i det blå skåpe,” which literally translates to: “now you’ve really taken a shit in the blue closet.” I’m gonna need to hear RuPaul say this at some point this season.

Jane Don’t Gives Good (Talking) Head

Jane Didn’t perform this week, but we still got plenty from her. Beyond being anxious about her castmates sabotaging her with Rate-A-Queen, she gave top-tier side-eye cutaways during the queens’ talent acts. She questioned Ciara’s choice to feature poetry, citing “drag family trauma” after her drag sister Irene was sent home first on Season 16 for a similar performance in the talent show. It sounds like Jane will be taking the conventional route next week–maybe we’ll see her do a death drop for Ross Matthews.

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As part of the “Not Today, Satin” runway category, Jane was anything but conventional. She slithered down the runway in a sky blue satin gown with sun and cloud details, complete with a giant orange-and-pink feathered bird draped over her shoulders. “I’ve had this bird for a few years. Her name is Denise.” Her mind.

If a queen can win both America’s Next Drag Superstar and Miss Congeniality on the same season, it’s gonna be Jane. Kenya’s designer wasn’t able to deliver her satin runway look in time for filming, but Jane saved the day by lending Kenya an oversized satin coat that Kenya quick-sewed into a cute dress. “Jane, thank you so much. You saved my life, bitch!” My heart! Can we convince Kenya to move to Seattle, too?

Tune in next week for the final half of Rate-A-Queen, where we will finally see Jane Don’t’s talent performance and find out who will be lip-syncing against Ciara Myst!

Drag Race Episode Four: Lights, Camera, Tension

Mike Kohfeld — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:01:00 -0800

If you like messy reality television, look no further than Episode Four of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Simmering tensions between the queens progressed into finger-pointing and name-calling before the queens made-up in time for a bestie vs. bestie fashion mashup challenge. But the drama didn’t stop. A queen fainted on the main stage! And then we got a disrespectful camera op with a side of gaslighting! by Mike Kohfeld

If you like messy reality television, look no further than Episode Four of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Simmering tensions between the queens progressed into finger-pointing and name-calling before the queens made-up in time for a bestie vs. bestie fashion mashup challenge. But the drama didn’t stop. A queen fainted on the main stage! And then we got a disrespectful camera op with a side of gaslighting!

It all left us with only one question: How many more episodes of Drag Race until ICE is abolished?

The Girls are Fighting

The episode picks up right where we left off: with the drama surrounding Briar Blush. First, the producers treated us to some unused footage from earlier episodes. Briar gives Mia Starr the cold shoulder after Mia teased Briar about a past breakup. But Briar spent much of last week poking at Athena. Mia, who was also upset that Mandy had just been sent home in favor of Briar, confronted Briar about her behavior, and several other queens chimed in with similar complaints. It all felt very middle school.

Later in the episode, Briar tearfully confessed to her bestie Juicy about feeling shaken by the argument and hurt by Mia’s suggestion that she should have gone home instead of Mandy. When it was time to get ready for the runway, Briar sat next to Mia to squash their beef. The producers squeezed as much as they could out of it: We learned about Briar’s childhood of feeling isolated and unloved, culminating in her leaving home at sixteen years old. Mia opened up about losing her brother to addiction in 2020 (I shed a genuine tear when I learned that her entrance look for Season 18 was made out of her late brother’s jeans). It pays to know what the people around you are going through, and Briar and Mia made up just in time.

We also got a touch of Kenya Pleaser’s backstory. She was born in a college dorm bathroom to a mother who didn’t know she was pregnant, and raised by her grandparents to allow her mother to finish school. One day during college gospel choir rehearsal, Kenya called her mother to come out to her, and was accepted without hesitation. “You won’t be the first, and you won’t be the last,” her mother said. Kenya’s choirmates then treated her to a loving rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” More of these stories, please. Better yet, let’s make stories like this happen for our own friends and communities.

Red Carpet Mashups

Bring back the mini-challenges! Like the previous two episodes, Episode Four did not include a mini, and I miss them. They’re lighthearted, the queens are sillier and more relaxed, and it’s always fun to see the creative (and stupid) “quick drag” looks from the cast.

This week’s main challenge was the opposite of quick drag. After pairing up with their besties, the queens were given materials and two memorable red carpet looks to mash-up into a single look. The twist: each queen will be judged against their bestie in interpreting the same looks; in other words, “who wore it better!?”

Vita and Mia were paired together to combine Katy Perry’s chandelier outfit from the 2019 Met Gala and Lil Kim’s provocative one-boob-out 1999 VMAs look. Style icon and judge Law Roach fawned over her look: “if one of these queens don’t come out with a tit exposed with a pasty on it, I am getting up and walking the fuck out… this was incredible.”

Law Roach did not walk out.

Despite the praise, Mia was not breast in show. Vita’s career outside of Drag Race includes replicating celebrity looks from scratch, not to mention she placed in the top in Episode One’s design challenge. Her exquisite “high drag” mashup that perfectly balanced the two looks brought her the win for the week.

Wild Card Auntie Jane

After her string of successes in the last three challenges, Jane felt the pressure to keep up her game. For the Red Carpet Mashups challenge, she was paired with her bestie Discord Addams.

The duo were given Cher’s black-feathered 1986 Oscars look, a Bob Mackie masterpiece, alongside the neon-green Prada fringe fantasy of Sarah Paulson from the 2018 premiere of Ocean’s 8. “I’m excited that we got this color combination,” Jane said to Discord. “I am a little irritated to be paired with you only because… we can both sew,” the two finished in unison.

The battle was on between two of our top design queens, but ultimately the fit of Discord’s creation was critiqued along with her stiff walk (the same walk RuPaul praised last week). She fell into the bottom three.

Jane brought Cher and Sarah together beautifully in an Auntie Mame-inspired look that paid homage to legendary actresses Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur in a delicious black-and-neon gown, cape, and headpiece. Calling her season 18’s “wild card,” Michelle Visage praised her for bringing such different and exciting looks each week, and the rest of the judges agreed that Jane is a smart cookie. “Jane knows how to bring a little vintage into the now,” commented Broadway star and guest judge Annaleigh Ashford.

Briar’s Farewell

Ciara Myst of Indianapolis bested bestie Kenya Pleaser, who were assigned Lady Gaga’s 2010 VMAs meat dress alongside Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s denim duet at the 2001 AMAs. While her energy was winning, Kenya’s look landed her in the bottom two.

More dramatic were the critiques of besties Juicy and Briar, who were assigned Lil Nas X’s pink Versace suit from the 2020 Grammys and Rihanna’s breathtaking gold 2015 Met Gala dress. Juicy got positive reviews from the judges, but Briar wasn’t so lucky. “You look like a WWE wrestler,” Law Roach told Briar. Suddenly, she began to sway, fainting sideways into Juicy.

It was an uncomfortable moment. Medics arrived to check Briar, but the cameras continued to roll with an unceremonious angle on a rip in the crotch of her yellow jumpsuit that soon showed up all over the internet. The other queens standing onstage were stunned. “That better be real,” Mia whispered to Vita, who scathingly replied, “It’s not. It’s a show.” The entire sequence left me feeling deeply unsettled, and for good reason. The day after Episode Four aired, Entertainment Weekly reported that Briar had been hospitalized after her run on Drag Race for pneumonia that had progressed to sepsis.

Briar was taken offstage to receive a comprehensive checkup while the critiques progressed. After getting cleared by the medic, Briar returned to the mainstage where she ended up in the bottom two with Kenya. They battled it out to Kylie Minogue’s “Lights, Camera, Action.” but Briar (unsurprisingly, considering the sepsis) couldn’t match Kenya’s energy and was sent home.

We’ll be back next week for part one of the Rate-A-Queen Talent Show.

Drag Race Episode 3: Sketch(y) Comedy with my Inner Saboteur

Mike Kohfeld — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:32:00 -0800

We are back for Episode Three of Drag Race. This week, we saw RDR Live, the infamous sketch comedy challenge, and as with previous seasons, Season 18’s RDR Live proved that the struggle is real. The writing was inconsistent. The editing was heavy handed. But at least much of the cast surprised us with their improv skills. It was a bunch of drag queens in a who-can-be-the-stupidest contest, a much needed escape from the chaos in the real world. by Mike Kohfeld

We are back for Episode Three of Drag Race. This week, we saw RDR Live, the infamous sketch comedy challenge, and as with previous seasons, Season 18’s RDR Live proved that the struggle is real. The writing was inconsistent. The editing was heavy handed. But at least much of the cast surprised us with their improv skills.

It was a bunch of drag queens in a who-can-be-the-stupidest contest, a much needed escape from the chaos in the real world.

“RuPaul’s School of Overacting”

SNL cast member Sarah Sherman—whose body-horror comedy was once described by the New York Times’s David Cronenberg as “if he had been swallowed by a mulleted clown”—was the perfect guest judge for RDR Live. She arrived on set as a rainbow-brite harlequin, complete with matching ventriloquist puppet. (I think I saw that same doll at an East Vancouver vintage shop last weekend, sitting next to a taxidermied pangolin.)

We saw new sides of the queens on Episode Three, and not all of them were cute. The producers made Boston-based Briar Blush one of the stars of the episode as the annoying little sister of the cast. After flitting about, throwing shade, and literally poking an exasperated Athena, Briar cast herself as RDR Live hostess Athena’s “inner saboteur.” It didn’t pay off—the judges called her forgettable.

Kenya Pleaser brought us top-rate talking head in the episode with confessional cutaways on How to Succeed in a Drag Race Improv Challenge. She and Nini Coco played sentient cosmetics in the Lipstick Lovers sketch (plus, Jane’s lipstick headpiece from Episode Two made a cameo appearance on Nini’s head).

Myki Meeks from Orlando, better known by fans as “that queen that looks like Aria Stark,” talked about her impressive theater background when she first entered the werkroom. When she was paired with Juicy Love Dion in the Michelle Visage office supply store skit, Myki coached the younger queen on her performance nerves. Juicy’s fears were unfounded: despite “not being an actor,” Juicy’s confident delivery and queenly poise outshined scene partner Myki and earned her a top placement for the episode. (Side note: by Episode Three, Juicy has confessed to viewers that she can’t sew, can’t sing, and can’t act… girl, what are you doing on RuPaul’s Drag Race!?)

Mandy Mango and Darlene Mitchell appeared together in a half-baked butter-churning competition sketch. Darlene’s white trash biker chick overshadowed Mandy’s conservative Amish character, and Mandy landed in the bottom for the third episode in a row.

I felt bad for Mandy, though. Last week, she was read by the judges for doing too much and then this week she was read by the judges for not doing enough with her character. Mandy’s Drag Race run is unfortunate—a casualty of storyline production.

Keys to the Queendom

Who wouldn't have fun in those shorts. MTV

This edition of RDR Live brought RuPaul to the mainstage for a rare live performance, half-stepping to her 2022 song “Queendom” as the musical guest for the variety show. I watched Episode Three with my sister and nibling (neither had ever seen an episode of Drag Race). For me, watching the legendary RuPaul perform is compelling–call it cringe, but I appreciate her well-crafted pop, and her looks are nearly always perfect. But my nibling’s reaction was telling: “The dancing guys behind RuPaul look like they’re having a lot more fun.” Keep that media empire humming, Ru.

Some Girls Do, but Jane Don’t

Unsurprisingly, comedy queen Jane Don’t had a strong showing on Episode Three. As part of the RDR Live News Skit, Jane played a Minnesota PFLAG mom that was one part Debbie Novotny of Queer As Folk, one part Allison Janney in Drop Dead Gorgeous, and one hundred percent stupid. Her brilliant characterization and flawless comedic timing made her a breath of fresh air in an otherwise bland skit. Sarah Sherman said she’s “taking notes.”

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Thanks, Jane; I’ve been saying “poppers” in a Minnesota accent out loud to no one for days.

Briar wasn’t the only “inner saboteur” at play this week. Jane’s performance on Season 18 has been so strong that the producers gave her a touch of the All-Stars Season Three BenDeLaCreme treatment, when DeLa got so in her head about winning challenges that she exited the competition by writing her own name on a tube of lipstick–let’s be sure to keep Jane away from the Wite-Out. After Jane’s stellar performance in the challenge, she had a menty b in the werkroom, sharing with the other queens that she was worried her winning streak would alienate her from the rest of the cast. It wasn’t a good look for Jane, but it seems to be the only way the producers can keep her from appearing as the most obvious winner ever. Jane, don’t worry about what the other queens think!

“From this day on, I will stop freebasing pangolin”

Episode Three brought us a magnificent collection of runway looks to the theme of “Animal Attraction.” If you were hoping for a furry festival, you might be disappointed, as the majority of the cast interpreted the prompt to the tune of glamorous eleganza extravaganza.

Discord “That’s definitely a walk” Addams finally got to hear about her runway during RuPaul’s walkthrough before the challenge. “You looked like a crazy person,” RuPaul told Discord, “in the most entertaining way possible.” Humiliation kink, Ru?

Discord’s albino alligator look in Episode Three was no joke, though: a sickening take on animal skin in fashion featuring a human skin handbag with her own face screaming out of the side.

There goes Ru's pangolin scale empire. MTV

The top three queens of the week all had stunning looks. True to her roots, Darlene Mitchell appeared as a cow-cowboy hybrid complete with black hat, cape, and hooves. Jane Don’t wore a gorgeous feathered gown in eye-popping colors, channeling the tropical macaw. Juicy Love Dion found herself at the top of the pack in a glittering gown composed of thousands of golden scales modeled after the endangered pangolin. When asked “why pangolin?” by the judges, Juicy spoke to the species' vulnerability to poaching, thus ending RuPaul’s black market stock in powdered pangolin scales.

Briar, Vita, and Mandy landed in the bottom, with Briar and Mandy lip-syncing to Lizzo’s “Love in Real Life.” Mandy delivered another high-energy performance, but most of it was edited out of the episode in favor of Briar. Being in the bottom two for the first three episodes sealed Mandy’s fate as the next to sashay away. We’ll get to enjoy Briar’s mullet for at least another week, yay!

See you next week for Episode Four!

Drag Race Episode 2: Local Queen Jane Don’t Proves She’s the (Cherry) Bomb

Mike Kohfeld — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:59:00 -0800

We’re back with Episode Two, where our biggest challenge is keeping track of who’s who among the fourteen shapeshifters we just met. The producers treated us to another Drag Race classic: the girl group challenge. We said goodbye to our first Season 18 queen, but don’t fret! Our hometown hero Jane Don’t’s success last week was no fluke. by Mike Kohfeld

We’re back with Episode Two, where our biggest challenge is keeping track of who’s who among the fourteen shapeshifters we just met. The producers treated us to another Drag Race classic: the girl group challenge. We said goodbye to our first Season 18 queen, but don’t fret! Our hometown hero Jane Don’t’s success last week was no fluke.

“Quintessentially Queer and Queeny”

The main challenge was called Q-Pop Girl Groups, but if you expected a K-pop moment on Drag Race (!), you’d be sorely disappointed. Instead, the featured genres were “Funk Almighty” (disco, Ru’s favorite), “Go Go Go” (pop), and “Cherries” (punk).

Disco might seem like it’d have a leg up in the challenge. The disco scene of the late 1970s was the musical epitome of queer joy. Rooted in urban, queer, Black and Brown communities in the US, disco became a global sensation for its emphasis on movement, freedom, and defiance of rigid social norms—embodied by Sylvester, the Queen of Disco.

But the other girls had fabulous options. Pop group Wham! in the early 80s brought us gay icon George Michael. And queer culture and punk music alike are indebted to the sound, image, and attitude of The Runaways from the late 1970s—featuring Joan Jett, the Godmother of Punk.

(Your homework tonight is to listen to “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester, “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” by Wham!, and “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways. Then, do a free-write on what “queer joy” means to you.)

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Drama! Over Disco

Nothing generates tension like a Drag Race group challenge. Episode One top two Vita and Nini took turns choosing castmates for their groups. Vita chose Briar, Juicy, Discord, and Jane for her group; Nini picked Mia, Ciara, Myki, and Kenya. This left behind a disgruntled Athena, DD, Darlene, and Mandy as the third group.

The queens got heated when it was time to choose their themes. Everyone wanted disco, and when Athena confronted Vita on why her group shouldn’t get first pick, Vita smoothly clapped back, “Because you’re the Leftovers, doll.” While Athena’s protest was drowned out by the rest of the cast cackling madly, the producers spent much of Episode Two focusing on Athena’s displeasure at being perceived as “difficult to work with” by the other queens. She is clearly a Main Character of Season 18.

Main character energy. MTV

Eventually, Athena got her way when Nini’s group picked pop and Vita’s group pivoted to punk. Vita revealed she had secretly wanted punk all along, but chose disco to mess with Athena. Discord Addams of St. Pete, a punk guitarist, was thrilled with getting punk: she uses rock and drag as vehicles for queer political activism. “Drag has gotten Disney-fied,” Discord said in the episode. “There is a lot of drag that doesn’t say anything at all.” (Discord’s Instagram story on Saturday featured her hosting a watch party wearing a rad dress with ABOLISH ICE emblazoned across the front.)

Mainstage Takeaways

Nini’s group, Glam!, clearly had a blast during their performance. While Nini had a breakdown during recording after losing her voice from last week’s “screamography,” she ultimately managed a safe placement. It was professional dancer Mia Starr of West Palm Beach who brought tight choreography and a standout performance, launching her into the top two. Mia’s runway outfit captured the week’s theme of “Yo’ Neck, Yo’ Back, Yo’ Pussy and Yo’ Crack,” with a dramatic Gaga-esque black lace bodysuit that featured clever tearaways for all four assets.

Vita’s group, The Tucked Aways, brought cohesive looks in black leather, high energy, and entertaining verses that screamed punk rock. The smart lyrics and campy performance of Jane Don’t made her the standout. “Thank f*cking God we got the punk song,” Jane shared in a confessional after her team crushed their performance.

The “Leftovers” tackled the disco theme as The Studio Fifty-Whores. While they had the best group name, that’s where their chemistry ended. “You belittled the song,” RuPaul admonished the group, citing the elementary lyrical structure and “lack of soul.” Athena was declared safe, as was Indiana-born Darlene Mitchell of LA. “It’s one of the stupidest names I’ve ever heard, and I love it,” RuPaul said bluntly of Darlene, whose Midwest charm and trashy Americana runway saved her. (Darlene performed at the Drag Race Episode Two watch party at queer/bar…maybe we can convince her to move here.)

DD Fuego of NYC, who grew up in Monterrey (“the Beverly Hills of Mexico”), was read by the judges by her flat makeup and stiff performance. She landed in the bottom two with Mandy Mango, whose strange side-table runway outfit and frenetic main challenge performance also failed to impress.

Having been in the bottom last week, it wasn’t looking good for Mandy as she and DD lip-synced to guest judge Dove Cameron’s “Too Much.” But once Mandy fought her way out of her table dress, she lit up the stage with a killer lip-sync and multiple tricks, literally making the judges’ jaws drop. We have a lip-sync assassin on our hands! DD could not keep up and became the first queen eliminated from Season 18.

“Miss One-Take Wonder”

Jane Don’t already proved that she could design a top look from scratch, and began Episode Two with some shade, saying that she thought her mainstage look last week was better than winner Nini’s “orange brastrap.” Though Vita chose Jane last for her team, she demonstrated she’s much more than a look queen.

Jane is no stranger to the music industry. She’s managed punk bands (and helped manage Stranger arts editor Emily Nokes’s band, back in the day) and worked as an intern at a record label. So as part of Team Punk, she crafted her verse with time to spare, which she used to help teammates Juicy and Discord with their lyrics. (We love to see a congenial queen. It’s like British Bake Off with more wigs.) Jane’s clever lyrics and husky rocker vocals got no notes from judge Michelle Visage in the recording studio. Teammate Myki Meeks playfully recognized game: “Miss One-Take Wonder over there! She’s crushing it. Fuck you, Jane Don’t.”

Ms. One Take Wonder herself. MTV

Jane’s winning edit didn’t stop there. She was a standout in The Tucked Aways, with the judges calling her “smart” and her performance “pure magic.” RuPaul confessed she would rewind the track just to re-listen to Jane Don’t’s verse. Future collab?

On the runway, Jane featured her mouth: a giant pair of sequined lips with glittering teeth and tongue, complete with a lipstick tube headpiece. Judge T. S. Madison declared that it had her “speaking in tongues,” and Michelle sighed with satisfaction, “this is classic Seattle drag.” Jane’s brilliant performance and memorable runway earned her a win along with $5000. Seattle is making a strong statement in Season 18!

Until next week!

New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 will air on MTV every Friday at 8PM PST.

Seattle Returns to the Drag Race Mainstage With Jane Don’t

Mike Kohfeld — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 17:44:00 -0800

RuPaul’s Drag Race is back for an 18th season with a fresh cast of fourteen queens ready to snatch our attention and keep us entertained for the next four months. Once again, the new season includes a Seattle queen, Jane Don’t, whose combination of quirky comedy, vintage glamour, and sharp wit make her a serious contender for the crown and title of America’s Next Drag Superstar. by Mike Kohfeld

RuPaul’s Drag Race is back for an 18th season with a fresh cast of fourteen queens ready to snatch our attention and keep us entertained for the next four months. Once again, the new season includes a Seattle queen, Jane Don’t, whose combination of quirky comedy, vintage glamour, and sharp wit make her a serious contender for the crown and title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.

I met Jane Don’t in 2019 at CC Seattle’s after a show at R Place (RIP). I was a Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, and Jane was a gorgeously hairy queen. I’d been a bearded queen myself, and admired how she pulled off extraordinary contouring and sickening eye makeup with a full beard. She had just started drag but was already making fabulous hats and gowns. I remember interviewing drag artist (and Stranger contributor) Miss Texas 1988 on a drizzly winter afternoon at the house she shared with Jane in Capitol Hill. While Miss Texas and I sipped tea and chatted about queer theory on their couch, Jane was hard at work styling a wig in the next room. It’s no surprise that Jane Don’t made it to the top of Drag Race Season 18’s first design challenge.

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When RuPaul’s Drag Race first aired in 2009, I was a closeted college student in the rural Midwest, but I knew queer magic when I saw it. A decade later, I completed a Ph.D. project on the Seattle drag scene that (in part) analyzed how the popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race influenced the local drag scene (transforming a subversive queer artform into a trendy commodity), but also how local drag scenes shape Drag Race. (I also noted how the narrow definition of drag on early Drag Race—“cis gay man dresses up as a lady”—resulted in uneven opportunities for queer artists in local scenes, with women, drag kings, trans performers, and experimental artists often receiving token treatment.)

Today, I approach RuPaul and his Drag Race as the complicated figures that they are, but they will forever hold a special place in my gay little heart. Let’s get into this season.

Let There be Light in Dark Times

The usual format for Drag Race introductions is a bright, well-lit entrance for the new cast, but Season 18’s queens walked into a dark and ominous werkroom. Here, the theme for 2026 emerged: queer joy, creativity, and community as a light in These Dark Times. In the Season 18 premiere, Drag Race producers proved that they can make a clear political statement without pulling undue attention away from the talented cast of drag artists. Once the cast was fully assembled, RuPaul entered with her trademark theatrics, prompting the queens to chant “Everybody say LOVE!” until the werkroom lights turned on. It was corny, but after the year we’ve just had, the image of drag artists literally lighting up a dark room was a welcome reset from the gloom and doom of our reality.

Jane wasn't the only person who brought some Emerald City energy to the screen. MTV

More important, though, the decision to bring guest judge Cardi B’s “Glam Squad” directly into the episode during the judges’ deliberations: trans icons Tokyo Stylez and Erika La’ Pearl. Cardi’s premiere look was stupid good (it was giving Emerald City meets Mortal Kombat), and we loved seeing the style team behind it. Referring to Tokyo and Erika as her teachers, Cardi B made a strong public statement on the relationship between her career success and queer artists. With her rival, Nicki Minaj, going full MAGA, seeing Cardi B sitting in solidarity with trans women was a standout moment of the premiere.

Drag Family Drama

In the endlessly self-referential era of Drag Race, it seems like producers push queens to introduce themselves by announcing their relationships to past contestants, tapping into the complex web of drag houses. Season 18 is no different, with the Dion dynasty of Miami taking center stage in Episode One: house mother Athena Dion appears alongside Juicy Love Dion. Their Drag Race connection is Season 16 alumna Morphine Love Dion, who is Athena’s daughter and Juicy’s mother. Juicy would therefore technically be Athena’s drag granddaughter, but Athena insists in a confessional that drag daughter is sufficient. (Side note: the cast jokes that Season 18 is the “granny season” because over half the queens are between the ages of 30 and 40…excuse me while I go lie down and pass away.)

While Drag Race audiences have long seen drag mothers, daughters, and sisters featured on the show, Season 18 is the first time we see a drag mother and her daughter in direct competition with one another—and producers are already squeezing as much juice as they can from that storyline. For the “Reclaim, Renew, Rejoice” design challenge, Juicy instinctively looked to mother Athena for guidance on using a sewing machine, but Athena pointedly chose to focus on her own piece rather than dropping everything to thread Juicy’s needle. Juicy fell into the bottom three with her rough-hewn look, but it was obvious she wouldn’t be going home—the story arc opportunities are too rich. We are guaranteed to see a mother-daughter lipsync battle between Athena and Juicy before Season 18 wraps.

Jane Don’t Did That

Our hometown hero, Jane Don’t, managed to snag a lot of screentime in Episode One. Entering the werkroom in vintage glam and a bright orange wig, she invited an inevitable comparison to the legendary Jinkx Monsoon–with her fellow queens even asking Jane if she was Jinkx’s drag daughter (she is not).

After Seattle’s recent run of demons (Bosco), aliens (Irene), and elves (Arrietty), Jane’s entrance felt like a return to form in how Seattle drag is portrayed on Drag Race: the comedic genius, vintage glam, and winning edits of Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. But the main design challenge was a reminder that Bosco and Irene are Jane’s drag sisters: she made a well-tailored suit out of floral-patterned shower curtains.

We've all had this nightmare, right? MTV

Seattle also brought the drama in Episode One. Jane laid claim to the first mainstage confessional of Season 18, tearfully opening up about her fraught relationship with her father in front of the judges–a promising moment given RuPaul’s love for Emmy-award-winning family trauma. Jane Don’t didn’t secure the first win, but she got our attention.

From “Screamography” to the “Drag Race Vault”

After nearly two decades on the air, RuPaul’s Drag Race has become a masterclass in remixing itself. Bob the Drag Queen, Raja Gemini, and Kim Chi made guest appearances in comedic cutaways, and choreographer Jamal Sims returned for the sixth? seventh? time to direct the “screamography” photoshoot mini-challenge–-an homage to the “hairography” and “chiffonography” of old-school Drag Race. Episode One standout Kenya Pleaser of South Carolina, known for her skillful Lizzo impersonation outside of Drag Race, cinched the first mini-challenge win of the season with her “primal screamography,” posing mid-scream alongside masked Pit Crew members. (Thank you, Kenya, for reminding us that screaming into the darkness feels good and looks even better.)

The main challenge was another return to classic Drag Race: designing with unconventional materials. The queens looted the “Drag Race Vault,” which contained well-known artifacts in the Drag Race mediaverse: sponges, tarps, and even Ornacia. Next, the queens were tasked with constructing a couture garment for the mainstage to the theme of “Reclaim, Renew, Rejoice.” Mini-challenge winner Kenya lamented the situation, wishing for the talent show format of recent season premieres. Kenya’s piecemeal outfit and questionable wigline landed her in the bottom two alongside Mandy Mango, a Philadelphia nurse specializing in HIV and sexual health with an overwhelming floral look that needed pruning. But it’s the premiere, so the bottom two were saved from elimination, giving both Kenya and Mandy another week in the werkroom.

Alongside Jane Don’t, the top queens of the week were Vita VonTesse Starr from Alabama, with her exquisite black-and-white gown crafted from umbrellas, and Nini Coco of Denver, whose geometric orange paper look showed her engineering prowess and elegant style. During her introduction, Nini confessed to quitting her day job as a mechanical engineer to compete on RuPaul’s Get-Rich-Quick Race *ahem* RuPaul’s Drag Race. It may be the pinnacle of the drag industrial complex, but it is truly beautiful to see queer people using their skill, creativity, and personality to create wearable art.

After Nini and Vita were declared the top two of the week, they lip-synced-for-the-win to Cardi B’s “Enough.” The winner of the lip-sync should have been Cardi B herself (I live for seeing guest judges lip-sync along to their own songs). Nini Coco snatched the first win of season 18—along with a $5000 prize.

See you next week!

New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 will air on MTV every Friday at 8PM PST.

Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme Are Here To Sleigh

Audrey Vann — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:45:00 -0800

Now in its eighth year, the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show should be considered Christmas canon. They are hotter (and younger) than Mrs. Claus, their show is funnier than The Nutcracker, and they have more love in their hearts than your wretched family members. I caught up with the BFFs ahead of their five-night stint at the Moore Theatre to discuss their favorite Christmas songs, least favorite gifts, and the ethics of coal this holiday season. by Audrey Vann

Now in its eighth year, the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show should be considered Christmas canon. They are hotter (and younger) than Mrs. Claus, their show is funnier than The Nutcracker, and they have more love in their hearts than your wretched family members. I caught up with the BFFs ahead of their five-night stint at the Moore Theatre to discuss their favorite Christmas songs, least favorite gifts, and the ethics of coal this holiday season.

What does Christmas Day on tour look like?

BenDeLaCreme: We have a long-standing tradition of hosting a party in Seattle every Christmas Day for performers, chosen family, and other members of the community to get together on our one day off, since many of us have long stretches of holiday shows. I no longer have a home base in Seattle, but still, we have everyone on this cast and crew, and all of our local friends in Seattle who we don't get to see as much anymore. We have an all-day Christmas party with a lot of food, drinks, catching up, and usually karaoke! It's very homey and familial. I’m so glad that we still get to have that.

What are your go-to Christmas karaoke songs?

DeLa: Oh, well, we are definitely not karaoke-ing Christmas songs! Trust me, we’ve had our fill of Christmas music. My go-to karaoke song in general is Shaggy's “Mr. Boombastic.”

Jinkx Monsoon: If I had to, I would do like “Greensleeves” so that everyone has to confront why it’s a Christmas song.

What are some of your all-time favorite Christmas songs?

Jinkx: I have fewer, so I'll go first. There's a song on our pre-show playlist called “Donde Esta Santa Claus,” sung by a little kid to his mom. He knows he should be in bed, but he can't, because he's too excited to see Santa—the chorus is “¿Mamacita, donde esta Santa Claus?” We have a cast dance that we all do when that song plays. It brings up a lot of warm memories. Then, I don't know, I like “Oh, Holy Night” because it sounds so ominous and dark, especially when played on a pipe organ. It sounds like a bad premonition.

DeLa: I'm very meticulous about having Christmas music during our show intermission that gets people in the holiday vibe while still being pretty obscure. I'm giving away my secret right now, but many of the songs from our show playlist are from this compilation album called the American Song-Poem Christmas, which is all songs from the ’60s and ’70s that were created through scammy magazine ads that said, “Send in your Christmas lyrics, and if they're good enough, you’ll be a star!” They were sent all these atrocious lyrics that people wrote in, and hired some really bad singers to make them into an album.

Anyways, it generated all these insane songs like “Santa Came in on a Nuclear Missile,” about a mutated Santa showing up, and instead of giving the girl a teddy bear, he gives her a laser gun. She's like, “Oh no, please, go back to being regular old, Santa!” I also like “Ole year Christmas,” which is basically a bunch of total nonsense phrases set to a beat. One of my favorites is called “Daddy, Is Santa Really Six Foot Four?” which is from the perspective of a little girl who is watching her mom cheat on her dad and singing to her dad about how Santa is carrying a gun. And the main lyric is, “He carries a torch for Mama and a gun for you.” It’s the most bizarre, weird song.

What is the most memorable Christmas gift you've ever received?

Jinkx: I think for me, and this is gonna sound so materialistic and capitalist for who I am today, but I don't think I've ever been so happy as when I got the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was a Nintendo 64 video game. My entire life, people had given me gifts that I had no interest in, and when they found out that I liked nutcrackers, that's all I got for years. When my family found out I was into video games, it was finally an acceptable gift to give a “boy” that I actually liked. This is part of an ongoing conversation I like to have about buying gifts for your queer relatives, because it's like, do you acknowledge the fact that they're queer, or is that outing them? Video Games were where the Venn diagram finally met, where they finally knew what to get me, and I actually liked it.

DeLa: Because you said memorable and not favorite, I’ll go in a different direction. I have such a distinct memory of being young and very, very queer—I'm talking like seven years old—and my family still trying to figure out what the hell to do with that. I always wanted My Little Ponies and things like that, but I would get action figures. I remember getting one that was a He-Man villain or something with a robot elephant trunk. It scared the shit out of me! When I opened it, I started crying. I was terrified. Once my family figured out they could give me art supplies, everything was cool, but for the most part, gift-giving was always this weird, tricky thing when I was a kid.

This sounds so Pollyanna, but as an adult, I'm not a huge gift-giver. My favorite thing is Christmas Day and when people show up to drink eggnog and spend time together. I’m making myself want to vomit as I say this, but spending that time with those people, and the fact that people commit to doing it, even though we're all performing and exhausted by the time Christmas rolls around, that, to me, is my absolute favorite thing I get from my community.

Well, okay, so you both have a bit of a history of living in Seattle, if you were to take someone on a festive outing in Seattle. Where would you take them? What would you do?

Jinkx: I know it's touristy and I know it's cliche, but I lived in Seattle for 14 years, and I never got sick of walking down to Pike Place Market. Still, every time I'm there, I go on a walk to the market for stones and gem-based jewelry, probably about two times a week. I’d take them there for sure. Then, probably take them to Queen Anne for dinner, maybe an artsy film, if I was in the mood, otherwise, we'd end up at Dave & Busters, because as a sober person that is, strangely, my new favorite place to go.

DeLa: I'm in Seattle Center a lot because that's where we work on a lot of the show. Once the Christmas lights are up, and once Seattle Center starts feeling Christmasy, I really do love it. I'm a nerd for the Space Needle and that whole area.

And, you know, I'm always going to be plugging our show! One of the most special things about Seattle is the performance community. There are so many incredible shows, and specifically queer performance artists who are making amazing stuff for the community. Whenever I'm able to see Scott Shoemaker’s War On Christmas, I'm always there. And, for so many years, the Dina Martina Christmas show was one of my biggest traditions. There are just amazing alternative holiday offerings in town, and so hitting as many of those as possible is always my recommendation.

Lastly, who deserves coal in their stocking this year?

Jinkx: I think they all just posed for a Vanity Fair photoshoot. I would just copy and paste that photo [caption].

DeLa: We might need to rethink coal this year because of all the additional mining.

Jinkx: It’s always a fight over where to put nuclear waste, so maybe it’s in their stocking. Then they can sit with what they’ve done!

See the Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show at the Moore Theatre Dec 23-24 & 26-28