Being an insult comic means not holding back on anything, including the TV show that launched her into stardom.
Bianca Del Rio won season six of the reality-competition television series “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and during a recent phone interview, she professed her gratitude for the experience and what it has meant for her career. But she’s not interested in looking back.
The drag queen discussed her brand of comedy, her hometown of New Orleans and her latest international tour, which stops in Newport on Saturday.
Question: Norm MacDonald died yesterday. Were you a fan of his? I thought maybe you’d appreciate his sense of fearlessness as a comic.
Answer: I loved him completely. My first introduction was “Saturday Night Live.” There are very few people that I find that you resonate with. George Carlin is one, Joan Rivers, Don Rickles, but he is definitely one of those that I thoroughly enjoyed. He’s what I would call a thinking comedian, like a Chris Rock, that you walk away from it going, I’ve learned something here. It’s so sad that he’s gone, especially now that we need all of the laughter we can get after everything that’s been happening in the world.
Q: You mentioned Joan Rivers and Don Rickles. Would those be your two comedy heroes?
A: Oh, without a doubt, for many reasons. Their caustic sense of humor. Their fearlessness, as you mentioned once before, but also the fact that these are two people that really worked up until the end. They mastered their craft and continued to do it up until the end. The Joan situation is heartbreaking. She had many more years in her. The diligent dedication to what they were doing, I appreciate that on many levels. And I don’t think you can last that long in the business unless you have a good sense of self and a good sense of self-discipline.
Q: Is there something about New Orleans that makes it a better town for drag culture than other cities?
A: Oh, my God. I think everything in New Orleans is great because liquor. Liquor is the best food. Let’s be real. That alone puts people in a better mood. It’s like Amsterdam. Everyone’s happy in Amsterdam because weed is legal. I think everyone in New Orleans is happy because you can drink 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the street. The drag scene has changed so much geographically because drag is on television, so drag queens are falling out of trees. But I think in the South, it was a different vibe then. New Orleans in particular, we had Mardi Gras and costumes and get-ups, and Halloween is really big there. Drag was a little easily more accepted than other cities. We are not so straight-laced there, and everyone is willing to have a good time. No one really gives a (care), which makes it better.
Q: You’re playing South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa on this tour. Are all of these places on an equal footing when it comes to embracing drag culture, or is it more underground or marginalized in some places?
A: I don’t necessarily know what the drag scene is like in each city. I think that the benefit that I have is television. When I filmed “Drag Race” eight years ago, I did not even think about the global impact. I assumed that certain people in New York or my hometown in New Orleans or some friends in Los Angeles would watch a television show, not knowing that it could explode on the level that it has. I didn’t think about it on a global scale, and shockingly I have larger audiences in the U.K. and South Africa and Australia than I have in America. In America, we have many more options as forms of entertainment, but the die-hard fans are definitely in the other countries, which is insane. I’ve been very grateful, because this is my fifth world tour that I’ve been on, and each year, it’s growing and gotten larger and larger, which is insane to me. I am a grateful (freaking) clown, that’s all I got to say.
Q: How many outfits will you be taking on the road?
A: In America and the U.K., we travel by bus around to all of the cities, which makes it so much easier for packing. I don’t have to deal with airports. So I have quite a few on this leg of the tour. I think there’s maybe 10 actual show dresses – show stage options – that I have, and then I also do meet-and-greets every night, so we have about another 10-to-12 meet-and-greet options, and that’s just because you’re doing it in different cities, and sometimes it’s cold, sometimes it’s hot, so you adjust to the environment. There’s nothing worse than putting on the same thing every day, going, “Ah, time to make the (freaking) donuts.” I like to have my options. With each tour, we’ve added more and more clothes. We also try to keep it in a theme, just to keep it interesting. This particular theme is black and yellow.
Q: Is there going to be a “Drag Race” winners’ season and will you be doing it?
A: They’re doing one, but no, I’m not interested in doing it. I had a wonderful experience with “Drag Race,” and I always say you don’t try to rob a bank twice. I got away with murder. I had a lovely time. And also it conflicted with my scheduling, so it didn’t work out, and I’m not gonna pass up a live audience to go fill a reality show, so I said hell no. I’m definitely not interested in doing it. It’s one of those things. I’m grateful for the opportunity. The platform was amazing. But what I’m getting to do now is really what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m not willing to give up that many weeks in my life to go risk it again. So I say, good luck to those other (contestants), but it’s not for me. I often say to people, “Would you go back to high school?” Nah, it’s been done.
If you go
What: Bianca Del Rio
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23
Where: PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation, 101 W. Fourth St., Newport; 859-900-2294
Tickets: $43
Source link
