TRIXIE MATTEL

Before her show tonight at Disney’s House of Blues, Trixie Mattel—in an exclusive interview from a secret bath house in Orlando—reveals what’s the best TV show that she’s been on, and it’s not what you think

Fort Lauderdale was the first stop of your Moving Parts tour.  Did you have time to do anything fun when you were there?  I went to a souvenir shop, and I got a shirt with upside down lettering that says, “If you can read this, put me back on my bar stool.”  What’s something that you miss about MilwaukeeThree-dollar Long Island’s and hardcore mid-western accents.  Everyone sounds equally nice and over it.  Where do you live now?  I’m a real-life jaded TV personality, so I live in L.A., near a Whole Foods.  My hobbies include spotting pretend service dogs and juicing.  If you had to live somewhere else, where would you live, and why?  In San Francisco.  I’m always looking for new ways to get gayer and surround myself with gays.  Separate but equal is fine with me.   What was the inspiration for the cover of One Stone?  I wanted to serve awkward-recently-divorced-folk-duo performing at a VFW.


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Trixie’s latest album, featuring the single, “Moving Parts.”

What do you think about DollywoodIt’s my mecca.  I have to go once a year or I lose my dental insurance.  Who would your dream duet be with?  I would like to play with Sarah SilvermanWhich one of your old jobs least prepared you for what you do now?  I used to caption telephone calls for the deaf.  I am now more impatient with the elderly than ever.  Who came up with the line “Book the Bitch” from the “About” section of your website?  I never update my website, so you’d have to ask me four years ago.  And me four years go didn’t have a phone.  Of all your projects, which one do you cherish the most?  I love The Trixie and Katya Show.  Winning Drag Race was cool, but having our own show was a huge freeze-frame life moment.  What’s the weirdest question that a fan has asked? People always tell me my journey with depression has inspired them—but I am fully not depressed.

What celebrity did you act like a “fan” around?  Oh, I met Baby Spice, and my asshole sealed up forever.  What’s the last thing that you looked at online?  I have been following the Robbie Turner-Uber-driver-death-saga online. I will be holding a candlelit vigil this evening for the Uber driver.  What’s the best place that you’ve visited so far?  I am obsessed with Dallas.  Fully obsessed.  It’s like the L.A. of Texas.  What’s your current state-of-mind?  I’m sipping a wine cooler and wondering why Melissa Joan Hart follows me on Twitter.  What were you doing before you read these questions?  My friend’s dog died, and I was comforting him—wow, the nerve of you even asking!   What’s your idea of perfect happiness?  I want to tour half the year, and live as a hermit in the woods the other half.  I also want to write music for other artists.  Specifically, for Miley Cyrus. 

What’s your greatest fear?  My phone battery at 1%.  Living or dead, who’s the greatest political figure in America?  Maxine Waters.  I once saw her use the word “scumbags” in an interview.  What did you learn from your parents?  That you can only run from your bills for so long.  What performer do you admire, and why?  I love June Carter Cash.  Her songs are amazing, and so is her sense of humor.  Who’s your favorite comic?  I have a few.  Ellen, Maria Bamford, Dana Gould and Anthony Jeselnik.  What’s your best characteristic?  I’m a great salesperson.  I could sell candy to a kid—from a van.  How do you enjoy spending your time?  I love playing video games and playing around with my guitar collection.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  I’m obsessed with Nev Schulman, Paul Rudd and Jesse Eisenburg.  The Jew-chasing life chose me. 


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Who do you admire, and why?  I love Dolly.  She has the best songs, the best jokes, and the best wigs.  If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be?  Robbie Turner’s Uber driver.  Where would you go in a time machine, and why?  I would go back in time and warn Robbie Turner’s Uber driver.  What would your last meal be?  I would cheat on my vegetarianism and have like ten cheeseburgers from McDonalds, complete with happy meal toys!  What do you worry about?  I worry about falling out of the zeitgeist and having to clean dwarf hamster cages at Petco.  They bite when they don’t trust you.  What are you afraid of?  I do not fuck with gorillas.  I won’t even go to Rainforest CafeIf you were a musical instrument, what would you be, and why?  I would be spoons, because they’re cheap, practical and timeless.

Are you more like a sheep or a wolf?  I’m a disgusting, mangled wolf from hell.  Who depends on you, and for what?  The children of America count on me for relatable content and apparently depression counseling (laughs).  Who are you closest with?  I am forever in love with Jinkx and Bob The Drag QueenWhat would your autobiography be called?  I Know Why The Caged Bird Lip SyncsWhat music do you listen to when you’re upset?  I love sad music. Jason Isbell!  What’s on your bucket list?  I need to buy a house in a Palm Springs and wear caftans all day.  What’s your greatest regret in life?  I wish that I didn’t leave the Spice GirlsWhat’s something that you never told anyone else?  That I go out to gay bars in masks so that I can be invisible.  Where can we see you?  In a 39 U.S. cities tour all spring and summer!

 

CHARLES BUSCH

Tony Award nominee, Drama Desk Lifetime Achievement honoree and two-time MAC Award winner, Charles Busch, discusses his legendary career—including a chance encounter with Greta Garbo—before returning to the stage in South Florida and Chicago

Where did you grow up?  In New York City.  If you had to live somewhere other than New York, where would it be?  I recently went out to dinner with a great group of people after a show in Birmingham, Alabama.  We had such a fun, campy time, and I realized that it doesn’t really matter where you live if you have a group of dear friends.  I think I may be learning to be less of a New York snob.  What’s your claim-to-fame?  To be considered truly famous, everyone’s mother needs to have heard of you.  But I feel that my forty years of work as an actor, playwright and performer has endeared me to several generations of wonderful people.  How would you like to be remembered?  That I added a little color to an increasingly grey world.  Will you ever retire?  As long as I have energy and a decent memory, I’ll be out there slingin’ the one-liners and tossin’ the hips.  I also still get great pleasure out of writing.  I hope that enthusiasm never wanes.  Who’s your favorite female performer from the 1930s and 1940s?  Judy Garland.  I continually learn about honesty and style from studying her performances.  Who’s your favorite male performer from the 1930s and 1940s?  James Cagney.  He was a dynamic actor and performer. He also reminds me a lot of my father.


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Who’s your favorite female contemporary performer?  Miley Cyrus.  I’m glad that she’s grown out of her youthful rebellious phase, and I think that she has the talent and charisma to be truly great.  Who’s your favorite male contemporary performer?  I find Bruno Mars very interesting.  What’s your favorite contemporary film?  I’ve seen The Disaster Artist twice this week, and I love it.  What playwright do you admire?  Charles Ludlam and Tennessee Williams.  I worship them both.  Specifically, when I was 17-years-old, I saw Ludlam onstage in Eunuch of the Forbidden City, and I saw at that moment that anything was possible in the theater. What story needs to be told that hasn’t been told yet?  How the lesbian community—particularly, in San Francisco—rallied and took care of gay men during the height of the AIDS crisis in the eighties.  What’s your dream role?  Peter PanDid you ever run into Greta Garbo in New York?  Twice, as a teenager, I saw her striding up the street.  One time I followed her into an empty store, and just being in her presence made me so light-headed that I finally had to run out.  When she was in New York, It was like having a mythical unicorn in our midst…  What politician don’t you like?  They’re too many to list.

What’s your favorite drink?  Jack Daniels with ginger ale.  Or, a chocolate milkshake.  What’s your most treasured possession?  An original seven-foot nineteenth century poster of the great actress Sarah Bernhardt, by the artist Mucha.  I had the small $4.95 print of it in my bedroom as a kid, and now I have the real deal.  Still, if there was a fire, I wouldn’t risk my life trying to save it.  Do you believe in ghosts?  I would like to.  There are so many people I would love to see again.  Either living or dead, who would you like to have lunch with?  The late film director, George CukorWhat’s the last thing that you looked at online?  A video of a dog befriending a baby deer.  I’m a real sucker for cute animal videos. What’s the best place that you’ve visited, and why?  Locarno, Switzerland.  I was showing a movie of mine at a film festival, and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the city.  And I was also surrounded by a gorgeous group of gay men who found me fascinating.  Heaven.  What did you learn from your parents?  My mother died when I was seven, so I don’t remember her well.  My father introduced me to the magic of the theater.  And for that, I’ll always be grateful.  What’s your best characteristic?  That I can throw myself into someone else’s fantasy of who they would like to be.

How do you enjoy spending your time?  I’m so lucky that my work is also my great passion.  I just love sitting at the computer working on a script; particularly, the editing and fine tuning.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  Harry Styles and Mark Ruffalo.  I have very eclectic tastes.  Who do you admire?  All of the people who are out in the cold demonstrating and resisting.  If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be, and why?  My Aunt Lillian, who raised me and saved me when I was at a terrible crossroads.  I’d want her to know that things worked out and that all of her hard work and devotion paid off.  Where would you go in a time machine, and why?  To see Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in 1961.  What would your last meal be?  The ridiculously obscenely expensive caviar that I’ve only read about, and a huge steamed lobster.  What do you worry about?  Losing my mind.  If you were a musical instrument, what would you be?  A small and very stylish old spinet piano, like the one in the movie Casablanca.  It’s a bit old-fashioned, but you can play any tune on it.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL CHILDERS

Are you more like a sheep or a wolf?  A wolf.  I hate to say it, but a career of any success does leave some blood on the floor.  Who depends on you, and for what?  My sister, who’s currently living with me.  She had some recent health issues, and for the first time, I’m learning to anticipate someone else’s needs.  Who are you closest with?  My sister, my nephew and a very intense circle of four, maybe five, friends.  I’m very fortunate.  What music do you listen to when you’re upset?  Upbeat stuff, like The Andrews Sisters, The Supremes and Burt BacharachWhat’s on your bucket list?  I want to make another movie! What’s your greatest regret in life?  I deeply regret a few selfish and insensitive blunders that I’ve made.  But I’d like to think that I’ve learned something from them.  What’s something that you never told anyone else?  That I live for the anecdote and to entertain.  In doing so, I’ve probably told every outrageous and intimate episode of my life to either an individual or an audience. Where can we see you?  I’ll be at Palm Beach Dramaworks on January 12 in West Palm Beach, and at Pride Films and Plays on January 21 and 22 in Chicago.