The holidays are fast approaching: in our homes, in our hearts and on our Ohio stages.
RuPaul’s Drag Race royalty, Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme will be bringing their seventh annual “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show” tour to Cincinnati (November 24th at the Taft Theater) and Cleveland (December 6th at Playhouse Square).
We spoke with Jinkx and DeLa to find out how they make each other better, what it will be like touring in states trying to ban drag and what they want their audiences to get out of their holiday show.
To listen, click play directly below or read our (edited) conversation beneath the audio link.
You both are so known for the way that you make each other better and we would love to hear more about that. Jinkx, how does DeLa make you a better performer?
JINKX: So we actually talk about this a lot because we have very different strengths. We have shared loves and shared mission statements as artists. Our superpowers complement one another, but they’re not necessarily the same things.
DeLa is very organized. Meticulously so. DeLa will pour over a script until every word is right. I’m more of a big strokes lady. I like to come up with my content. Back in the day, me and my music partner, we had like a sketch of a show and then we’d go out there and improvise a lot of it and I loved that. But when you work really, really hard on creating the script and understanding the script and doing the text analysis, even if you’re the one writing it, it’s going to be better. Because improv is amazing, but it’s like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. It happens, but you can’t rely on it, right? A script is saying, “I’m going to make sure that every show is the best possible show it can be. Because I’m making sure I’ve done the work ahead of time.”
And DeLa, how does Jinkx make you a better performer?
DELA: Like she said, I am obsessive about things like story structure. When I’m doing my own work, I perform my script down to the comma. But from working with Jinkx over the years, I have gotten more and more comfortable in being improvisational and part of that is just having a scene partner that you really trust so you can take big swings.
Jinkx is such a superstar. She can command the stage no matter what the hell is happening. And she’s really taught me the power of just being there in that moment. And so we have this like structural thing that we’re working within, we have like everything nailed down, and then you can relax into things and find all sorts of nuances. That’s been an incredible thing that I’ve learned from her.
JINKX: As two people who create theatre, the coolest thing about where we’re at now as collaborators and performance partners and people who share a stage is that now it is at the point where anything could go wrong. Anything could freaking go wrong. And as long as we stay present with each other, we’re going to be fine.
We’ve had craziest shit happen on stage. And you know what we do in those moments? We make eye contact with each other and remind each other, “We’re not there alone.” And we come back to the moment that’s happening right then and there. And if we have to address something, we will. And then one of us will get us back on track with the script.
And it is so preferable to have someone like that on stage with you. Cause like she said, I like to think I can handle anything, but God damn, it’s so much better when you don’t have to do it alone.
Let’s talk about doing this work regionally. You’re coming here to Ohio, where we have a proposed ban on public drag sitting right now in our state legislature. I know you’re going to be in the South where much of the same legislation exists. Does performing those regions change your mindset going into those shows?
DELA: Jinkx and I both started doing drag at a time when we did not experience a lot of the freedoms that queer people have experienced. When we started, being in drag was inherently a political act of rebellion.
And drag historically is that. Drag historically is the people who are the most visible saying, “I am not going to make myself invisible. I am going to move through this world whether the world likes it or not.”
And so, right now, I think Jinkx and I both feel that we have been prepared for this for a lifetime. We go into these spaces knowing that we can make it through the fire. And not just us, but also the queer performers, the queer artists, the queers who forged this path that we could walk down. So if we can come in and bring some of that energy, we are 100 percent prepared to do that.
JINKX: This is how we contribute to the solution. We work really, really hard to make sure that our show is something we believe in, that every line is congruent with the message we are trying to convey. And every year the message has new nuance, but it’s always at its heart about coming together as a community and making the rules for yourself. And we apply it to the holidays in the show, but it’s really about everything.
You know, it’s ridiculous. We have been conditioned since birth. Our lives have been affected since day one by society’s ideas of who we need to be just because of what’s between our legs.
And I reject that and drag allowed me to reject that. And now drag allows me to help other people reject that. And that’s a beautiful thing. And it makes it more than just a way to make money. This is more than just a way to get attention or to feel validated. This is more than just like getting your rocks off as a performer.
This show and creating this show and staying true to it through the years and fighting tooth-and-nail to keep it going, even in the hardest years that we’ve faced, that is something way more special than just being popular and entertaining. That is something that says, “I’m exactly where I need to be to be part of the future and part of the solution right now.”
We get to be part of a legacy, but we also get to remind everyone else that they are part of a legacy as well.
When the lights come up at the end of the show, what do you want people leaving the theater with?
JINKX: Last year, we truly said it’s enough to leave with a smile and feeling better than how you came. Because not everyone is there for their chakra realignment. Some people are there because they need two hours of escape.
We’re going to the South where we’ve been talking a lot about what could happen to our liberal bubbles. With this next election, we’re going to places where it’s already happening. These are the places where they tested the shit that they want to do to queer people everywhere. And I can’t think of a place I’d rather take this show because we get as much from it as the audiences do.
When the lights come up, we know that the audience went with us on that ride and they’re grateful for it. Whether they got deep spiritual fulfillment or just two hours of escape, we know we did something that night to try to help. And honestly, right now, just knowing you’re doing anything…like, how do we even help the situation as individuals? Well, we found what we can do.
DELA: It’s beyond just what we’re doing on stage. What we’ve been able to do — that is a gift to us, as well as others — is we’ve been able to gather like-minded people in the same space and to have a live experience for two hours. We’re in a space where we remember that our strength is in numbers and that there are people who love us.
At the end of the day, regardless of whether you just come out being like, “I love those dick jokes,” that affects you. You know what I mean? Being in that space affects you, and that is what’s important to us. 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show” tour will be coming to Cincinnati (November 24th at the Taft Theater) and Cleveland (December 6th at Playhouse Square). Get your tickets here.
Know an LGBTQ+ Ohio story we should cover? TELL US!
Submit a story!
