"Barracuda Nights" (w/ Bob The Drag Queen)

Did you readers want a legendary episode, or no? Gonna have to assume you answer YES to that one so here we go, baby! It's an ep with BOB THE DRAG QUEEN! Wow, how about a glimpse back at the nights at Barracuda lounge where Matt and Bowen discovered the greatness that is Bob? You will have your jaw on tha GROUND when Bob tells our hosts about how Kathy Najimy was lowkey RuPaul's intro to Bob's talent. All this and ALSO: drag culture in NYC, Bob's iconic Snatch Game performance as TWO different characters (let's go, trailblazer of the form!), HBO's Emmy-nominated We're Here starring Bob, Shangela and Eureka O'Hara, performing in red states as a drag artist, Whoopi Goldberg's influence, the legend that is Bebe Zahara Benet, how Tony Kushner came to cast Bob in Angels In America and sooooo much more. Damn, I just wrote this up and now I want to listen again (hi, it's Matt!). But more importantly? You listen...NOW! xo!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Look man, oh, I see you, my oh, and look
over there. How is that culture? Yes? Goodness calling hi
Bowen and you're and can I say hi from the
next room? High from the next room. So this is
the current layouts. This is the soundscape. Literally give it

(00:22):
to him. I'm in my bedroom recording on on my dresser,
m my setup, my fantasy, I should say, is on
my dresser, in my laptop, and then Matt's in the
other room, in my living room where I normally set
for these podcast recordings. I'm in Brooklyn, New York. Everyone
he's in town. He's communing with his parents. So get this.
The hurricane, which name was Isaiah's. I don't know if

(00:45):
that that s is silent, but yeah, let's let's go
with that. Isaiah. The hurricane that just happened really rocked
Long Island, y'all and sort of took the Internet away
from my parents. Um and uh. So I have traversed
into Brooklyn to record with Bowen Yang and we were
in separate rooms doing that, and we really had a

(01:06):
wonderful time. Anytime I can see you, you know, the
second you came into my apartment, we started putting on
notes on a scandal. It felt like old times. We
did start to watch Notes on a Scandal? Now why
do we do that? Because we we got it in
our heads that were actually a listener, a reader, damned
Matt pitching the idea that we should do a reading

(01:27):
of Notes on a Scandal. Yes, and as some like
benefit function or something. And then we were like, that's
a great idea. But then in watching Notes on a Scandal,
we thought this is not so great of an idea
because it's very much a film and a reading of
it would not go so great. So we thought, what's
a play we could read? Yes, And so we're still
exploring our options and when we'll let you know if

(01:47):
we if we arrive at something. No, no, no, that's
actually an untruth. We know exactly what play we're gonna read,
but we're not going to give it away now. We're
not going to give it away here unless you want to.
That's brutal. I think we should Okay, all right, some
of the readers don't know this, but Bowen and bow
and Yang and I wrote a play. It's called Night Soap,
Night Soap. We did it at Ours Nova, did Ours

(02:08):
Nova years ago. It was Bowen and Yang and I
actually it was we were fully in drag Ruby Rue
shout out to Ruby Rouge, shout out Ruby rou head
to toe Giche so that we could do a show
called Night Soap, which is a play in three acts.
And it was basically a high point of Bone Bone
and his artistic career. I had never had that much fun,

(02:31):
like writing something and then like realizing it and like
just fully like start to finish, like have it sort
of actualized, and we read it again tonight when we realized,
like the notes on the scandal is not gonna work,
and we're gonna do it again soon. I don't know,
I don't understand your hesitance. Well, I feel like we
I feel like we have other logistical things to like
nail down before before we start to like announce. But no,
this is great. I love this sort of you mean,

(02:53):
such as a date and time and everything like that. Yes, yes, yes,
you know. I want to firm up those details before
we make an since. But I'm happy that we're doing
it now. I really am. The readers should know we're
gonna do a live reading of Bowen and Ice play
Night Soap where we are too warring. What would you
what would what is the lot of the show. We're
two warring matrix of chocolate empires. It's very much. It's

(03:16):
like war Paint meets Dynasty meets Dallas. That's the elevator pitch. Um,
it's really fun. We're really you know. We read it
back and it's it's it still makes us laugh. So
hopefully we'll remount it for everybody. Um, but gosh, what else? Oh,
I famously everyone knows. I try to get Matt three books.
Matt texts yesterday goes. I finally read a book. I

(03:39):
read a book. You guys. Okay, So my I'm spending
time with my parents and they have no internet. So
there was a book around the house. It was Mary L.
Trump's book. So this is the niece of Trump and
it's her book, which is too much and never enough
read it a thrilling read. You liked it. I did
like it. You have it, you had You had a
lot of takeaways. I have tons of takeaways because I

(03:59):
feel that people have not in trying to understand him,
which is kind of a lost cause whatever, but you
could sort of start to understand what we're dealing with
here by looking at his development and the man had
a psychopath father, so basically the guy had no capacity
for human empathy, etcetera. So donalill never learn that. And

(04:21):
so what we're dealing with now is someone who learned
how to be a quote unquote killer in business from
his father. And I don't know, just just not to
expand on this much further if you don't want to
read the book whatever, I get it. Some of some
people might think there might be different, Um, I don't
know what would you call it intention behind her writing
the book, But basically it's interesting in understanding what we're

(04:44):
dealing with here. Well what's interesting? I mean you were
telling me about this, Um, we don't have to get
too too deep into it, but you were saying that
one of the things that Mary says is that it's
wild and sort of dissociated and unsettling how we're all
sort of catering to one man's identity, catering to one
man's identity and whims and all this stuff. And it's like, oh, yeah,
that's so frat like, that's what a what a what

(05:04):
a wild sort of inversion of the way this country
is like supposed to work if we're all just like
confected with like one person's behavior. It's it's terrifying. Do
you know what I think is so funny too? Before
we introduce the guests, which is truly in my moment,
cut history, let me just say one thing. Anyone that's like, yeah, well,
she's just trying to sell a book. Here's the thing

(05:26):
about when you write a book, you wanted to sell,
you want people to read it. So anyone that's like,
she just wrote this book to sell a book, yes,
that that's part of that's that's how this works. You
write a book. Now, when I write a book, I
wanted to not sell. I wanted to be like Max
Biale stock producers. I don't want it to sell at all.
Interesting point I hadn't thought about. No, I know, I

(05:48):
know what you're saying. Look, I read a book. I
found it interesting. If you want to read it, to
go fucking do it. If you don't, I don't care.
What makes me matter is that this is a book.
That this is not one of the books that I've
told you to read. I have many books that I
want you to read, and you not read a single one. No,
my next book I'm gonna arenas trick Mirror. It was
just gonna it was gonna come weeks weeks weeks weeks
weeks in the future, and this was a book that
was right in front of me. But I have a
I have a good solid list. But here's the thing.

(06:10):
I don't want anyone to do anything other than listen
to this next podcast for the next hour or so,
because this is somebody that law s cultures, this is
honored to have. Well, this is somebody that we have.
I know it's a little too recent to say this,
but I feel like there's there's a place that you
and I and a lot of other New Yorkers, let's say,

(06:31):
can be like we can talk from a place and
reminisce from a place of like, gosh, remember the days
of Barracuda, Like Monday nights at midnight, which means that
which meant that, like our guest would showup at one
o'clock to do her her show and she would give
you like stand up like bits and jokes and like
the house down boots and then go into like the

(06:53):
most genius mixes and like we would go and it
was just this like event every week to like go
see Bob. It was such it was such a jool
for a lot of people. I think at the time,
I'd say the peak of a peak of being in
New York and gay in New York would be in
terms of like our friends like going to see Bob
the Drag Queen perform Monday nights at midnight at veracou

(07:15):
To Lounge, which I got to tell him that I
was a fan of when he did my show Game
Show several months ago, which came out on Quimby. You
can watch it if you want. It's out there, and
I think that Bob the Drag Queen's episode with Darcy
Carton is one of my very favorites. But basically, I
do remember when we had been going to see Bob

(07:36):
the Drag Queen perform every Monday night at midnight at
Vercood Lounge. All of a sudden, one day Bob wasn't there,
and we knew exactly where Bob went, and we knew
exactly how that would go, and it did come to pass,
and the rest was, as they say, her story, her story,
So everyone, please welcome to your ears. He's a drag artist,

(07:56):
an activist, um an Emmy nominated it on an Emmy
nominated show, We're Here and RuPaul's drag race for that
match which we happen to watch just hours ago, and
treading tears. Fantastic. Everyone, Please welcome to your ears the
drag queen. Those are such nice things you all said
about man. Well, there are things that we feel. I

(08:18):
don't know you felt so warmly. We feel so warmly.
You know, there's no shame in listening to books. I
think it's a stigma that were listening to books and
I read really slowly. I just, for whatever reason, I
just read really slow slowly. I can't read it like
when I'm whenever I'm watching the TV, and then like

(08:39):
the words come up, like the apologue or the prologue
or something, and the words I started panicking. I'm like, no,
no, no no, no, no, it's gonna be gone. And then
everyone else like got it, and I'm like I need
I like pause. I'm like, my brain just doesn't work
that way. Or if I read, I fall asleep a
lot of times. For some reason. The only place I
can read and not fall asleep is on the New
York City subway, which is probably from an eight fear

(09:01):
of being stabbed. Um. But I have started listening to
books and it's a really great way to get the information,
and you can just do so much stuff. The multitasking
is real. Yeah, I gotta do it. The thing is,
I've always been such a music person, and also I
have trouble committing to anything long form, Like my boyfriend
has the hardest time getting me to commit to any movie,

(09:23):
Like I can't even watch a movie that's like over
an hour and a half. But um, yeah, I mean
I need to do it. I also think there's something
nice about just holding a book in your hands, of
reading a book, which I was enjoying and not that
old school. I don't have any nostalgia for books every
people like I just love. I think books are kind
of a waste of resources in space. I look at

(09:43):
the library and I think, oh my god, all the
books in this library could be on like five iPads. Meanwhile,
this big building, there's like eight five homeless people living
on this block, and huge building could have been used
for something a little bit more resourceful. And I understand
that libraries and more than just books are also computers
and resources citizen, but I'm saying, what about those books?

(10:07):
You can make room for more resources. There we go,
and also said, let's face that some of those books
are never getting read, not ever in their goddamn book
life for someone that said, right now, you just read
those old books. Yea, And I want to single handedly
take down the book. It's a lonely fight taking down

(10:28):
the book, the paperback in the hardcover book industry. But
someone's gotta someone's gotta fight this fight. They're not good
for the environment there and there they are found dead.
I mean, my thing with with audio books is that
I I find that I don't absorb the information as
well as I should be. Like I feel like it's
my ears glaze over and like sooner than my eyes

(10:50):
or more easily than my eyes doing. I'm just like, okay,
I'm just I can I can just detach from the
attention span. But I mean, I I see, I see
value in both. I do want to um destroy libraries.
Only private ones. The public ones can stay. But there's
there's there's a huge there's a huge cropping of private libraries. Yeall, No,

(11:13):
I totally that up. I told I was like, Connecticut
is a private library. They will they went in Connecticut. Wait,
but Bob, okay, talk about do you do you have
I'm speaking of nostalgia. You're not You're not nostalgic for books?
Do you do you have a nostalgia for like barracu
to days at all? I feel like those were like
the day. Yeah, no, for sure, I really miss Barracuda UM.

(11:36):
You know, so I just dragged before. I was Bot
the Drag Drag under the name Kiding with a Whip
for a really long time, actually maybe not really long,
like three or three or four years. I was Kidding
with a Whip, and then I moved to Barracuda as
Kidding with a whipping about like two months in I
switched over to Bob the Drag Queen, and something just
took off, something ticked, and then we just started loving it.

(11:56):
And you know, Monday Nights at Barracuda really legendary. Before
Pemper Mean Pepperman hosted for six years, and before Pepperman,
who was Candice Kane for ten years, for nineteen years,
there had only been three host of Monday Nights at
Barracuda UM and I ended up for three years before
going on to Ree Paul's Drag Race. And it was

(12:17):
just one of those nights that was just like it
really taught me so much about stand up about myself,
about myself as a performer, like it gave me a
real grounding connection to my community. And it was one
at the back of the day, back in my game
day when when you know, when if a queen got
a show, Baracouda, she was. She was like one of

(12:38):
the best guy damn drag queens in here. It was
like a stamp of whether you were good or not.
If you got a job Baracouda, everyone just assumes you
were and then you can make up, make it up
later and figure out to be good. Yeah. The person
the people who turned us onto you was our dear
friends Josh Harp and Aaron Jackson, who I think I
love them. Yeah, they're the best. We actually just saw
Josh in the park. We just we just went out
to the park to see Josh. But they were like,

(13:00):
you have to come to Baracuta on Monday nights. And
they were the funniest people that we knew because we
came up at UCB and doing the whole improv thing,
doing sketch, etcetera. And they were the funniest guys that
we knew. And they said, bar none the funniest comedy
show in New York and they were they were agreed,

(13:20):
they were not wrong. And this was at the height
of like the sort of rumor mill circuit, like like
this was like the legend at this point. It's legend,
but like everyone just like the scuttle but being like,
oh my god, like RuPaul was in disguise at Baracuta
and tipped Bob a hundred dollars like can you believe it?
And like all this stuff like, well, the rumors were
around ended up. Actually happened that RuPaul came to the

(13:40):
Monster in the West village. Yes, yes, and she asked
for me at the door. She was like, is Bomb
the drag queen here? And um and then she but
she didn't hip me. She's kind of hit in the back. Um.
And you know that was what I was on a
cruise ship once. Um was Zack new Towers. I do, Oh, yeah,
we love Zack. Who's my roommate here in that late

(14:02):
by the way, Yes, yes it is, but we we
were on this cruise ship. And then Katheen and Jimmy
the cruise and saw my show and she was like,
this is just the funniest show. You need to come
meet me by the French fry. So I went to
the buffet. I met him in the French fry and
then she goes, have you ever thought about dinner post
rag bread? I was like, mom, everyone thinks about dinner

(14:24):
post drag bad. She goes, wait one second, and then
she calls a number, but no one answers. She goes,
you didn't answer, But listen, RuPaul, I'm sitting here with
some drag queen named Bob and she's gonna be the
next winner of your show. Call me back. You want
to know about this queen? Wow. So I got this
verified actually because I was this is a long story,

(14:44):
but a long story short. I ended up on What's
the Two? I actually was on it with with Rue.
And before that, I was like, you know, I used
to go see Bob like on Monday nights at Barracuda,
and rup Rue was like, you know, I had been
hearing all about Bob the drag Queen, and I knew
I had to get down there. And I saw that
show and I was ripped up. I thought it was
the most amazing thing. And then Brew was also talking

(15:07):
about how um around that time was when because I
think it was season six, when to see that walk
was like the song of the Runway, right, So yeah,
it's a great instagram. I was there. I was in
the room. It was wild. Yeah, and so people were
like basically the girls were like walking the runway too
and rip and like cutting it up to to see

(15:28):
that walk. I'll tell you the exact story. So RuPaul
walks in with this big bubble coat and it's like
bucket hat and asked the door the dermant is Bob
is Bob the dragon performance and I and then it
was like yeah. And then one of the bartenders was gay,
because you know, the dermot is always straight. Some bartender goes,
oh my god, that's that's RuPaul and then runs downstairs.
And then it's like, don't tell anyone to the manager,

(15:51):
don't tell anyone, but RuPaul's here. And then the manager goes,
oh my god, and then runs to me and says,
don't tell anyone, as we're not that RuPaul's here. I said,
oh my gosh. I ran to the DJ and I said, girl,
don't tell anyone, but you should know RuPaul's here. That
he goes, I'm gonna play he see that walk? I

(16:12):
was like, do not. He was like I'm gonna play it.
Then you here, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, And then
out of nowhere, all the QUI because they're a lot
of dragons would show up to the look we and
so they like kind of like a soul train in
mine made they made an aisle and then all these
queens just started doing this. He said, walk and we
started walking and dancing, and everyone's singing the song live

(16:35):
and RuPaul is just in the back corner just listening
to it, watching all of us like go off to
this song. So Rule is under the impression that no
one knew that Rue was there, and I kind of was.
As he was telling me that, I was like, I
don't know, You're very inconspicuous, and really the thing that
the patrons didn't know, but everyone who worked there, which

(16:57):
is kind of best case scenario. That's the best set
up for it. Anyway, It's like the audio planets will
be in for a surprise. But as long as i'd
like create anxiety for the performers, and N's like, do
I get excited pressure? I work. I do really well
under pressure. Um, I get really excited at the opportunity
to perform or to be goofy or sillier to make
someone that I look up to laugh, I'm like, when
I'm a WHOOPI Goldberg, I was excited. I wasn't like,

(17:18):
I hope, I don't think UM. I was like, I'm
gonna be hilarious to work with. Okay, that's I did
not work with Whippy. Let's let's I don't want to
give the impression Whop we did a movie together. I
I have been like, Whoop Whoopy did the fifty anniversary
to UH of the Riot and I was there for that,

(17:43):
so she introduced me. But we didn't do a sister
act or anything. And I went to her birthday party
and I went to her to the view so we
hung out of the time. But we have not worked together.
I would I would say, I would say that there's
there's a semi professional capacity there. I mean we were
both be we were both professionally paid to be there
that evening, so in that regard, and we also both

(18:04):
did UH Barclays for the product kickoff. Yeah, that was
last last summer. Was a good summer. That was a
good summer, wasn't it. What's wrong with this one? Well,
there wasn't one. Um I will ask, were you as
sure as we were as your fans that you would
dominate that season of drag Race or how nervous were

(18:27):
you to go in there? Because season eight this was
this was like after season six. Seven the show had
hit like a peak in terms of like it was huge,
like within the gay community. It had yet to hit
like the season nine season ten levels of like everyone
in the mainstream is talking about it. But this was
a huge deal. But still you had to feel pretty good.
I would think from watching seven was the first season

(18:47):
to be I mean nominating. I believe eight my season
was the first season to win a Navy so we
had just started getting buzz round my season calls drag Race.
Those facts maybe a little off, but my season was
almost the first season to win. And we want the
best costume. Uh's ald the one best costumes? Um, it's
all the yeah, and UM, I don't know even know

(19:09):
it's all. That's all as an amazing uh fashion designer
based out of l A or New York, one of
the two. Um, anyway, that's not the point. But you know,
I've always had a really strange sense of confidence. I
really think I'm really great at stuff. My mom always
told me I could do anything except saying My mom
with stuty that I could do everything except saying UM.

(19:30):
And I believed her. My mom told me I was
the best. I really believe it for a really, really
long time. And that's also just kind of a demonstration
and what it looks like when you would encourage your
children instead of like knocked them down. I mean, look
at someone like g G. Good whose mom helps her
and makes her costumes. She went on to be in
the finals reposed drag Race. Let me tear your kids down.
It's hard for them. Your parents can break you in
a way that you can't, that you can't sometimes can't

(19:51):
recover from. There a lot of work to recover from.
And my mom really really built me up. And I'm
just so lucky that that I ended up with Martha
called well in my corner. So when I got the call,
I was pretty sure I had one drag Race this before.
And then when I walked in and saw the competition,
I was like, oh, I definitely yeah, because you had

(20:13):
you had you had some competitors there. I mean, to
be fair to the rest of them, like they were
great competitors, Kim, I mean had thor as in Betty. Um,
there are lots of amazing drag queens. I just think
I just in my mind, I remember thinking myself, I'm
just more suited for this particular challenge. Not that I'm
better than them, but in terms of what this required,

(20:35):
I think I'm I think I'm suited better than they are. Well,
you know, and people have pointed this out, but there
was no development storyline with you. There was no thing
of like Bob's come in and you know, there's he's
got some work to do here. It's like that wasn't
a thing. Well they tried to do like a um,
Bob learns how to do makeup, but I just didn't
get any better. So they had to live stor go.

(20:58):
But then you couldn't even just be with that, Like
Bob like couldn't put together an outfit from like raw
materials because like you did purst first on the first
episode and then it's like right, but yeah, but you
like you like made a look out of curtains and
then like and then you were like, okay, well Bob
can so. And then Bob is a comedy queen, and
Bob can you know, do all these different things and uh,

(21:19):
the I mean historic snatch game where you did two
people like it was just like it was a very
it was a very blazing the trailblazing, trailblazing you. I mean.
It was also one of the thing where I would
go in instead of people like why did they let
you do two snatch games? And I was like, I
didn't ask, just did it. I never asked. Everything wants
they don't like it, they'll probably should stop down production

(21:40):
and helping me to switch back. But in the meantime,
I'm just gonna do it. I snugged, I snugged the
Carol in under my prison uniform. Yeah, no way. As
long as Ruin is laughing, everything goes like. I have
talked to some gaze out there that are like because
I've I've spoken with some gays, and very few of
them are like I've in speaking with gays. Very few
of them are like, well, I think it should be

(22:01):
one character the whole time. And I'm like, bitch, No,
if you are being funny during snatch game and you're
killing it and you can whip out another like ultr
ego or another performance, you should do that. The whole
thing is like a performance of comedy so well those
days you said that Bob and diraculate is a professional disagrees,
but also the real I would love to do that.

(22:23):
But also the thing is like, girl, I mean the
rumbol always says, the only rule in snatch game is
making me laugh. That's the only rule. Make me laugh.
Just make me laugh. And I was like, well, I
got that. That's that's I can do that for sure. Yeah,
I mean the best, the best. And also I think
people are now kind of annoyed at the idea of
people switching it up, because now people are like now,
now folks are like, oh, someone's trying to do that Bob.

(22:45):
Things kind of like when when after I saw she
did the rose petals and then everyone in Asia does butterflies,
and everyone's like, now it's too much. And I don't
believe that you should be trying to do stunts. I
think you should really think them through. I'm from New
York City. We pull stunts in New York any all
the time. I used to go to see Georgy at
the Wrist and a party calls Saliva every Tuesday, and

(23:05):
I and I once saw a girl going forth the
ship and apple out of her ass that was so
if y'all things of butterflies are a stunt, bish come
to New or City, you don't know what a stunts?
Go to this and that on a Wednesday night and
see what a stunt it comes to the circus R
T N T. I wonder if this is a thing
that's specific within drag or within the queer community, as

(23:27):
like the appraisal the appraisers of like any particular right form.
But it's like it goes so quickly from being something
goes so quickly from being like innovative to being like
a gimmick that I'm just like if if if more
time can be afforded to like watch something be developed
over a longer period of time without people writing it
off so quickly. Is like, I mean, the Asia thing
was tragic, but I was I was kind of like
thinking the back of my head like oh, but like

(23:49):
I also wish that like if that was successful, that
would have been kind of great, even though it didn't
match any of those Janet Jackson songs, but like, yeah,
it just did. It just did. It wasn't completely well
thought out and maybe if she had like at least
one hundred butterflies as opposed to like three or four.
But like, I don't think she realizes how many butterflies

(24:11):
you would need to actually make an impact. Like I
was in that dressing room when Sasha but Laura was
putting those rose pedals in that wig. We were sitting
literally side by side, and she was, what, you don't
realize this. Actually it's a little behind the scenes te
So Sasha had different numbers planned. She had completely different numbers.
She had some scissors in her garter in case she

(24:33):
got crazy, which the other girls got. So she was
gonna start cutting the wig up and do this whole
crazy number. And then she had the rose petals in
the wig for how I know? And I think she
had one other thing was so she had a different
number plan for both once. So it was that that
was not just her. It wasn't her being like, no
matter what, I'm doing rose pedals. It was like, I'm

(24:57):
doing rose pedals for specific She came up with a
how would I know number, and then she came up
with a crazy numb Yeah, she had a fully realized
thing for both the Whitney and Brittany number. So another
thing that I think people are not really thinking about
when they say, oh, well, Saga had that stunt that
was also an amazing lip sync and she was emotionally

(25:18):
keyed right into it. And I think whenever people reduced
that to a stunt, I'm like, look at that woman
performing about like she is right on the she is
emotionally living it, and that like ripping of her wig
off into the rose pedals, like worked with the lyrics,
worked with the tone of this song like completely. She
started off with saying does he love me? Does he

(25:39):
love you? Now? You know he loves me? Loves me not?
He loves me? And wouldn't us sit in the song
if he loves me? If he loves me not, then
there's more roads in the sleeve and in more rooms.
So it actually was a really cleverly uh. It was
really well done. It was like she always does like
it was. It was a performance piece, like it was
fully realized. She and trying. She wasn't trying to against anyone.

(26:02):
She was just doing the number. Yes, yes, speaking of numbers, Um,
let's talk about we're here, so we I was thinking
about this today and I what I love about the
show is that, um, it's not you Eureka Changela being
of service necessarily to people. It's you guys are definitely
I think you're all resources to be sure for everybody,

(26:23):
for all the charges that um you sort of bring
in and and look over. But I feel like it's
a show that's just about like performance, it's just about
it's it's about expression obviously, but it's it's I like
that it's a show where you're not like the end
result is not like a furnished house or like a
skin difference between this and like where I asked the

(26:43):
last first of all the stuff we're giving them, it's
completely unusable, like what are like, what are you? What
are you going to do with this fucking costume? Besides
where maybe once a year and that's the first year
is getting kind of old, you know what I mean? Like,
what the hell are we are you gonna do with this?
Like you can't use this stuff is completely unusable. But
we are making these really great connections with people and

(27:05):
building helping them, build us as a community and amplifying
the voices, especially when we amplify the voices of marginalized people,
are like I can't get over Nate and Lady Shug.
I don't know if you watched them all yet. But
if you have not watched My Pet, you watched Farmington's
Nate and Lady Shug from the Navajo Nation and ship
Rock in New Mexico. Beautiful. That was the Mrs Broder

(27:29):
Frankenstein thing. Yeah, that was very Yeah, And people don't
realize that me and Chancel and ere we come up
with those numbers. There's there's no there's no team that
that does them. Then we just act like we did it. No,
we we we we choose the songs, we come up
with the numbers, We go to the design teams, we
explain the constant we want, we go to the set builders.

(27:50):
We talked to her till the way outfit. We want
what what set we want? And we build each number.
It's so conceptual. They're so conceptual. Um, and they're and
they're wonderful. But yes, no, I that episode is so
like I mean, I I kind of have this crazy,
sort of like emotionless experience as a viewer for most things,
but like they're I mean, I mean you really just

(28:11):
sort of get choked up. I mean, I just kind
of put it in context with the fact that there
are these communities in these parts of the country where
you would where any coastal elite would think that like, oh,
you know, like Twin Falls, Idaho is missing something that
New York has. But it's like, but that's not necessarily true.
Like there are these there are the people there to

(28:32):
like build out these communities that would be in place
anywhere else. Yeah, it's a microcosm of a microcosm. You know.
What it means of the world is asm of the
real world. And then you have Twin Falls Adho, which
is a microcosm of like a New York City drags
and it's like a smaller version of it. And I
think that it really feels great to be a part

(28:52):
of something that feels really impact. We're not we don't
we're not we're not mentors, we're not uh counselors. Were
just people having connections with the people. And that sound
a little b cheap. People watched the show, you realize
it really is what it is not a makeover show.
We're not giving them anything that is actually usable. It's
just us using this as a distraction to amplify the

(29:15):
voices of trans people, queer people, black people, Asian people,
indigenous people. I wanted to ask just because It's been
a long time since I ventured out of l A
just because of the quarantine, and these past a few days,
I've been on Long Island, which is obviously part of

(29:35):
New York State, and so people think blue state and
they kind of think, oh, it must be sort of
liberal leaning. But on Long Island it is like I
was taking a walk the other day and every other
house there was a huge Trump flag. It's really crazy,
and I kind of felt like I was in the
twilight Zone walking down the street because I'm like, what
are people seeing that I'm not that they could possibly
be in support of this ideology and this um administration.

(29:58):
What does it feel like, UM, to be you and
go into these places. I know you've traveled a lot
because of RuPaul's drag racing, because you're a successful drag artist,
But is there a sense of like self consciousness or
fear that you get going into towns like this and
having the responsibility of being that person who's going to

(30:19):
like help this person change their ideology. What does it
feel like going and doing the show? Well, I mean,
I'm from a red state, UM, so I'm not from
New York City. I wasn't raised in New York City
or anything I was. I was born in Georgia. I
was raised in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi. UM, so I'm not
a complete stranger to being a liberal in a red area. Um.

(30:44):
And even my theater program when I was in college
was like this, like weird Republican theater theater pro Republican
theater program, Republican theatergra Look. I remember being in the
green room in my college, like it's like it's like
about theater lounge at my college and like arguing about
like George Bush versus like I can't remember who it
was at the time, maybe John Carry yeah, um, and

(31:09):
and being like yeah, al grand laws one before it
was John Carry yeah, and just kind of like arguing
with this guy was like much older than I was
and way more articulate than I was, and really ruined,
like pummeling me that he was like a grad student
and I was like eighteen, Like yeah, but he's that
thanking and that that kind of thing. Um. But I
also realized too, when you live at these people, because
I've been really obsessed. I've been in girl these YouTube

(31:32):
like k holes, like you just watch YouTube, Well it's
it started. It actually all started with talk to You
Westbrother so many times. And now there is this YouTube
genre that it's just YouTubers doing videos about other YouTube
and there are these YouTubers who do documentaries about YouTubers.

(31:52):
It it's in. I mean, like, there's this YouTube naim
and watch everything like I'm obsessed. Anyway, then I started
getting into this whole Trump or YouTube thing, and I
realized that all those folks are they what they are
doing is they're operating from fear. I don't think that
the goal they have is completely different than the goals
I have, but the they're operating out of a place

(32:14):
of fear. They feel like they're losing something, and quite frankly,
in order for all of the people in America have
more equality, the people at the top have to start
losing power. The people up here have to get rid
of something. For the people down here you have something
because power is finite. That didn't power is an infinite noe,
bitch is not. There's an infinite number of jobs, there's

(32:35):
an infinite number of money, there's an infinite number of food,
there's an infinite number of houses. So for the people
at the bottom to have more, the people at the
top half to start giving up more and they realize
that and it's scary. But then also the people who
are down at the bottom were being used, and they think,
these smoking, poor white people in Alabama, don't they realize
Trump is not for you. Married Trump just signed an

(32:58):
executive order to to like demolish social Security. Now you
are in your you're sixty four, You're about to hit
the fucking limit, and they think, you know, you want
to have some security because you voted yourself out. And
then I realized that Trump's not not actually acting in
their interests as much as they think. And then I mean,
I don't want to do a whole but positive now

(33:20):
we're happy to talk about it. It's just it's just
crazy to me because it's exactly what we're saying, Like
I'll say on this podcast because I know because some
of my cous listened to and I will take this risk.
I have two ants and one of them is high
income and one of them is lower income, middle class
to lower income, and they both support Trump. Do you
think that the one who's low income thinks she might
be the one who's high income, but she doesn't know

(33:41):
how much your other art makes she like, wait, so
it so makes more than me. I think it's more
cultural than that. I think I think once it gets obviously,
once it gets to the middle lower income, it must
be a cultural thing or like a spiritual thing or
a religious thing, because what else could it be, Because
you're literally voting in your her own malinterest. Because what

(34:03):
happens is Trump what he does is he panders to
other fears they have. For example, Trump will get up there,
Trump will talk about like, let's say, the liberals will
say something like, we just want to make sure that
everyone gets healthcare, and then Trump will get on the
platform and say something like, We're not gonna be having
you pay for other people health care. And as a reminder,

(34:24):
I believe strongly in the second Amendment. Right, whoa whoa right? Right?
What do you like? Throw those little things in there? Yeah,
we're talking about healthcare, who's talking about who's talking about guns? Sure? Sure? Well,
because because there was some like Leach memo where they
were considering using just because the poll poll numbers or

(34:45):
something for Trump that the team that the campaign team
was considering using quote unquote transgender sort of this is
the new talking point as just as a wedgiess ship,
which is like, okay, so this is this is the
game and all, this is the playbook and all. So
before I forget, but yeah, your whole social Security example,
it's like, oh, well, Mary also turns out that she

(35:06):
is in favor of social Security and so that's like
a natural literal like social program and so like it's
like it's like you're it's like no one knows what
their interests are and people think that, like when people
don't realize they think that this like this social Security
is like some random government money. No, that is money
you paid for. You're supposed to get it back. And
Trump is trying to just take it and to be

(35:26):
like I'm gonna keep We're gonna keep it and use
it for something else then you didn't approve to do,
but now we're gonna. But now we're gonna switch at
the very last minute. So when you're able to do
stuff like ignite, uh, like if these people think that
Trump genuinely has any truck, doesn't give a funk Trump
Trump probably doesn't hate trans people, but he knows that

(35:48):
he can say something about them and then get his
base fired up, and then he can use that fodder
to then go ahead and make it seem like then
get them all riled up so they don't know that
he's trying to do the Social Security or he'll he'll
get up there and he'll say something that to a
complete distract Trump's Trump's values are clearly not Christian. Then
he runs on this like I'm super Christian. He says

(36:11):
stuff like, no one loves the Bible more than me.
He said those words with his arm. He said, no
one knows more about building walls than I do. If
that's true, let's put you in a fucking fill with
brick and more than watch you build the walls, as
you know so much about it. Also, your wall is failing.
A big chunk of your wall fell over because of
strong wind. I couldn't believe that. So how great are

(36:33):
your walls? Donald? They're not the metaphor was wild. They're
not kind of crete. Parts of them are just bars.
You know what I mean? Naomi small because Naomi smalls
can slip through the cracks of someone that's sucking walls.
Naomi walls could bend over backwards. Now we know and
wall exactly the bad bending of it all. That was
a new trick exactly. So I'm like, girl, don't even

(36:55):
like it. But it is a when when you payander
to people. But all so, I don't want for even
one second to people believe that the left are the
only people pandering. I think they certainly nailed it and
they've gotten better at it, and there are people are
much more receptive to it. But over on the on
the right, they'd be pander into Hillary Clinton. We're talking

(37:16):
about hot sauce in her bag, and Joe Biden was
talking about it if you if I ain't black, both
of me, you ain't black, And I'm like, no, no,
I mean, look, it's it's all a mess, and we're
dealing with decades of mess, and I feel like it's
a very recent awareness that that a lot of people
have about how fucked up it is. And I think we're,
like I said to my dad the other day, I

(37:37):
was like, you know, it's a we're trying to talk
about what could possibly be any of the positives out
of the situation. And I know, for me, I there
will never be another mid term. I will ever skip
local election. I will ever skip And I do think
there is like a such a greater awareness of you know,
what our responsibility and our rights are as American citizens,

(37:59):
so at least that, but you know, it's so thinks
so much too about um, I don't know. This whole
election is gonna really robbly well up in a way.
It's really odd. Like I'm not really here to like
shame anyone for their smarts or anything, but I am.
But I do think I'm allowed to say whether that

(38:21):
someone is qualified for their job or not. I mean,
based on my little experience of just being an American.
But like when the president goes into it really is
embarrassing when the President says stuff like well, we're we
have Like when when he's on the Axios interview and
he's he says, we have less cases of corona than
the world. I know if you all heard him say that.

(38:41):
He goes, we have less cases in the world, and
they're like, yeah, because we're included in the world's corona count.
When he goes, when the interviewer goes, we have the
most cases by percentage like based on our population. Goes, No,
not that, don't do that, and he won't go back
and say stuff like you know what, guys, everyone freeze,
I said, this was no more danger than the flu.

(39:03):
I need to take that back. That is absolutely completely false.
I misspoke that. It's not true. This isn't killed almost
almost two people just in America alone. We have almost
five million cases in this country. Roll it back. It
is more dangerous considering that this is the this disease,

(39:24):
this sickness has killed more people, more Americans in the
Vietnam War, I would say it is dangerous. Yeah, let's
take up No, no, no, yeah, I think we'll just
take a quick break. And then, you know, I think
I think we're gonna take a quick break. Okay, and
only because the queen said so, well, we're right back, okay,

(39:53):
so we in fact our back and at this point, uh,
Bob the drag queen, we would like to ask you
the question that we ask all of our guests, each
and every single one, and Bowen, what exactly is that
because I forgot Oh no, Matt, you shouldn't forget, Bob.
What is the question is what is the culture that
made you say culturists? For me, this is a formative

(40:13):
piece of pop culture, could be a movie, a book,
a person, an area, like anything at all. And and
you didn't forget that. I happen to choose one. No,
it can mean you know what, it can be whatever
you want because we're let's let's talk. Well. I had
a few moments for me. A big moment for me
growing up was, um, like just the culture surrounding Whoopie

(40:36):
Goldberg direct, hearing her in Lion King, watching her ghost
Karina Karina long walk Home. I like seeing someone on
TV who looked like me, we didn't have eyebrows like me,
who was dark skinned like me, being told that she

(40:56):
was amazing, being awarded practically every ward you can get
an entertainment and I mean unless you, I would not
get a Soul Train award or something, so she'll have
them all. Um, were you familiar with her One Woman show?
Do you think I just turned black and gay us today?
But I mean like as but I mean like as
a young Jesus Chris yet, I mean it's like it's

(41:18):
like a child. No. But in my in my college years, yeah, yeah,
for sure, it was like the VHS vaults of the
college and all that stuff. And of course once YouTube,
when YouTube came out when I was in college, Um,
I would get ahold of from over there. But like
I just so like Lion King of Sister Act Sister

(41:39):
Act two, Corina Ghost Long Walk Home, all that stuff,
all that whoopee content. I'm a huge like I just
love Whoopie Goberg a lot um and also full full
A genuine culture reset was RuPaul's Drag Race. Watching the
season one of RuPaul's Drag Race, I saw someone on
TV who I thought looked like me. It was Bbs Harbonnet.

(42:02):
And everything that I thought was bad about me, black, faggotty, gay,
fim like I felt, ugly, nappy hair, everything that I
was told made me bad. I saw this person on
TV being told that those were all the things that
actually made her really fat. Was that was being told
that not not she wasn't great despite those things. She

(42:24):
was great because of those things. And it's it's something
that happened on We're here, Amelia. I think all the time.
She said everything about me has been used against me
at one point in my life, and that really stuck
with me that I cannot forget those words. Everything about
me has been used against me at one point in
my life. And I was like, I relate to that.
But then she found this community of drag where they
don't call her some fat dude, They say, go big girl.

(42:47):
You know what I'm saying, Like everything that, like the
fact that her baldhead became a symbol of beauty for
her drag. You find a community that uplifts all the
things that you were told made you garbage and you
find out that it actually makes you gold. Yes, yeah, amazing.
And what what was it like when you first met BB?
We've met BB and it was everything we could ever

(43:09):
Oh and the first time I mean meeting BB is
a combination of magical, remarkable, and exhausting. Yeah. For those
of you who don't. Who don't aren't familiar with BBS Harbona,
but maybe you are a later Dragon's Watcher. BBS Abone
was Valentina before Valentine was Valentine. Someone who really feels

(43:30):
the fantasy, like she made her own rules about existence.
She everything she's saying it is real to her. She
is an African queen. She is like she's wild, She's
that in her ross singing a circle of life. That's
who by is. I used to so addresses for her.
Oh that's right, you did addresses and I would get something.

(43:53):
Ever ever told this, But I'm telling who cares I
was st of these dresses and I was like a
gown and I would go. I never saw anyone besides
her best Her roommate was my best friend at the time,
so I saw in her dresses, but just because we
were friends, like, I'll show you dress, I love you.
I saw a bb AD dress and I was like,
I don't know what to charge for this. She was
she's so cheap. People was like, hey, baby, listen, I

(44:18):
will do all of the embroider be myself. I'll do
all of the storing. Um. I will give you. Yeah,
he's at old dress fifty dollars. And granted it was
the dress probably was not great. It was probably not
a brilliant dress. But I made it. And I was
like in my twenties. And she didn't say I think
she did dog where she took that dress and she

(44:39):
called it a shell. She was like, you make the shell,
and then I she was shut up, like bitch, I
made you made. But but but she is one of
the people that really inspires me and I just I
love her a lot. I really think she's truly epic,
and I go, I am so happy. I mean, when
when we discovered bb well, I mean we we would

(45:00):
have rediscovered her along with a lot of other people,
I think during All Stars three, and then it was
just this thing of like, oh, right, like she she
has she has sort of been crystallized in amber this
whole time since season one and has basically been unchanged.
And then like we just fell down this hole of
just watching every single one of her music videos are amazing.

(45:22):
The Cameroon video is I mean to to to to
recall this comparison. It is Diana Ross singing the Circle
of Life. It is like pure beautiful, like her like
dancing in some park in Minneapolis with like all these
other people and then just her like truly like making
love to the camera and like she's a star. She's

(45:42):
a goddamn star. So the dress, the dresses video, face
face yeah, I made like that two or three, made
two or three of the dresses video. That's good. That's
a video. The legend that the the tradition of making
a rubro videos BBS harmon. It was the first rude

(46:03):
girl to make a video. And the song was class
I'm the One, Yeah, I'm the Ship. And then there's
I'm fun Tonight, which is great. Yeah there is no
but there is no. I mean talk about like all
these girls come out with their videos and I mean
we love purse first. That's up there. For me, there

(46:25):
is nothing like jungle Jungle kidding. Jungle is a narrative.
It's uh powerful sort of presence and acting. And like,
so who sent you in the beginning, who's the interaction
between her and now? Yeah, yeah, it's it's right behind

(46:45):
the eyes. It is she she butts them in the
face with the with the with the blood end of
a baseball pack. This is this is not me like
to on horn, But I'm gonna say this if you
have not in this is a video of mine that
is lesser known. Not a lot of people know about this.
I would encourage you all to watch my video yet

(47:06):
another dig. This is one of another day achievements. This
is one of my honestly, actually I want you I
want you to watch it and then talk to me
about I will wait the three minutes after the podcast.
I'm really proud of It's all. Watch it. It's about
two or three years old, this wee, but I'm still
very proud of that video. Also, I mean, one of

(47:26):
my favorite tracks that you're on is Toddrick Wrong bit.
I love wrong bitch, and I love all of Toddrick's stuff,
And I feel like Toddrick does not get the amount
of attention that he deserves for what exactly goes on
in his brain and is Todrick is amazing. Todricks next level.
Toddrick is insane, like I've never seen, to be honest

(47:49):
at all, I've never met anyone who works as hard
as to call. I can almost guarantee you even beyond
it doesn't work as hard as I can almost promise
you want a claim. I mean, creatively, he executes so much.
I mean he's choreographing for the girls, He's chorographing for
the Rual girls. He's doing his own cho cho no. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I'm saying like he's really the girls. Yeah he did.

(48:12):
Uh it must be good to you? Was that one?
Good to that video? Wow? Yeah? That really feels like
him actually now that you say that, because I know
he's I know he's um in the Taylor universe. Yeah,
he works with Taylor as well. I I agree that
drag Race was this cultural rista and yeah for sure,

(48:32):
and and I feel like, well, season seven, but then
season eight was scooted the first season where you had
people um vocally be like I did drag after the
show started, Like, I like, this was a new generation,
a new turnover of people. And I said to the camera,
I started doing drag because of the show. Yeah, um,
and that was that was huge for me. I was

(48:53):
not a drag queen before post Drag Race. I had
done Dragon maybe once or surprise in college theater stuff,
but never like in the in the clars like yeah, yeah.
But it was seeing BB that made you feel like
this could be something much for me. Yeah. It was BB.
I remembering I had Tebow. That's how long ago it was.
I was scrolling through Tebow and I was going through

(49:14):
I went to the Gate Chann. I just scrolled through
the Gate channel and I saw Roup had was the
show record And then I watched that. I got in
from work and I was like, oh my god, this
show is amazing. So I've watched every episode of Drag
Race in real time. Yeah, for sure. Were you doing
stand up before that or were you kind of just
doing that? So I was writing stand up but I
had never actually I was too afraid to get on

(49:35):
stage and do it. And then I decided to try
my hand and stand up On the same night I
tried my handed drags. I did my my first knight
of stand up was also my first drag performance ever
at the New or Comedy Club. I see, what does
it feel like to sort of have like the industry
quote unquote take drag queens seriously as comedians because we

(49:56):
actually had We had Jinks in Alaska on one of
our shows, and I had a conversation with the drinks afterwards,
and she was like, you know, every time we kind
of come to one of these things, like it always
feels like, um, they always treat us like the drag
queens and they don't treat us like actual talent. Do
you feel like there's been like a shift in the
past few years about how you get treated as like

(50:16):
just an artist and a comedian and a performer. Yeah,
well for me, I mean I know that I've started,
um really shifting. How like the gigs I'll do, for example,
like here's the guy I got called by, Uh, I
got called by what's what's his name? Andy Cohen? Do
if you know he has all the dragons to show
up and they act like the celebrities. Yeah, the watch

(50:37):
it happens live yeah, yeah, watch Happens Live and I
did one for Ends with Asset and then they called
me after I want drag Race and I was kind
of like, you're not gonna go step behind the bar. Now,
I remember thinking myself, but I'm one of the celebrities,
because when I thought to myself, I was like, but
I should be I should be in the chair, especially
on a show with a gay audience, like we'd be

(50:58):
more excited to see you than fucking someone on fucking
CBS as elementary. So I told SO. I told him
that I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna come back and
do it. And I said, I don't know what I'll
ever come back into the shows that I'm sitting in
the chair. And of course they have called me a
few times, do you want to come in personate? Uh so?
And so I'm like, no, I really don't. I genuinely
don't have any of you. Now you have, I feel

(51:20):
like you have very successfully sort of kind of branched out,
branched out quote unquote, but like you doing like Angels
in San Francisco was like like a thing that like
people took notice that I feel And yeah, so what
happened was Tony Kushner. And if you don't know Tony
kush Tony Kushner is the Pulitzer winning anyone winning. I mean,
he's one. He's huge. He's wrote Asian America Abraham, I

(51:44):
mean Lincoln recover A wrote, he wrote Asian America wrote Lincoln.
He wrote Carolina change Um. He's a really big deal. Anyway,
he was he's a band of drag Race, and he
watched drag Race and at some point he was like,
Bob seemed like he'd be a good actor. So he
literally just went to my website Tony Kushner. Tony Kushner
was I was like, hey be in my show will

(52:06):
you Be Believes? Which is like it's an incredible role,
thank you. It was really Whenever you asked me who
did I play? I always I always say the black person.
I was like, gay person is like, who did you play? Well,
only it's only weird when they go I actually really
love Angian. I'm really familiar with angels. Who did you
play in them? Like the only black person in the show?

(52:29):
Off your Yeah, I was Harpard, Like who do you
think I was? But it was really great. I was
also there I mean with some really great actors, with
Randy Harrison form uh, Steven Steven Spanella, who's the original
prior to it was great really and I was there

(52:49):
for six months. Yeah, yeah, I was gonna I was
gonna ask how long it was. I'm actually doing My
friends and I in Quarantine are doing a reading of
it on zoom and who are you? Who are you? Prior?
Of course? Wow, but I'm Berry Steven Spielberg. You know

(53:10):
that scene, right Bowen, you know the play? Yeah, but
it's like one of the last scenes in the first half.
But it's Uh, it's interesting because I hadn't actually realized
I hadn't seen it because I didn't see the recent
Broadway version with Andrew Garfield. Um, and I hadn't seen
it since I had watched the mini series. I have
not read Angels in so longer. Well to your friend,

(53:32):
um Millennium approaches Believe is only in like three or
four scenes, Um include miss Allied as well and then
missing in Paris. She is And I think like a
ton seventeen or nineteen, it's back to back to back
with with with real, real, real, real good scenes too.
I mean, it's so funny because Like I said, it

(53:53):
has been so long since I've seen it because I
was younger when I watched the mini series with Um
but Metal Streep, Um, Patrick Wilson, etcetera. Um and Jeffrey
Wright played the Belize role. Um. But it's been such
a long time and now as like a gay adult,
it's so much more. It really just hits. It's just

(54:14):
such a piece of art. Invite I would like to
go listen if if I'm free, Oh my god, I
mean we would be thrilled all seven hours. Truly, it's
just like act by act but um but yeah, it's
it's amazing and I it's interesting. No, no, no, no,
it's every Tuesday we read a different we read um

(54:36):
uh like act. Yeah, it's so fascinating to read it
and realize how how oppressions it is. Like, it's really interesting,
especially in a pandemic to be and not to compare
it to what AIDS was, but it's interesting to hear
like the paranoia about illness and the uncertainty, and also

(54:57):
to be um written that takes place during a time
where the government didn't have our best interests in mind.
It's just really it's really a timeless piece Unfortunately, before
you do Boys in the Band do augustin Age County,
and then after Boys in the Band the inheritance. But
hopefully we're not doing this. I know. But do you

(55:18):
guys remember back we thought quarantine was going to be
a month. It was so funny. Yeah, when they said
we'd have to do this for a couple of weeks,
I thought I was going back to work and everything. Well,
this is the other thing. Remember when Trump was saying,
like the first week of quarantine, this will be over
by July or August, And now that it's July or August,
I'm like, l oh l, what a time to Well,
they thought that the heat would kill the virus. Yeah,

(55:42):
that's what they said. They were. They were like, of
course in the summer months, the virus won't survive. We
know this. And it's like, do we know it's not
that hot? Jesus Christ, I don't even aside. I dropped
out of theater school and I know that what what
are you doing? And we how are you quarantining? There?
Have you been there for a while? Girl? This is
a long story. I can't here to look for a house.

(56:02):
I'm going about a house in l A. But then
I can't look for a house. But already both the
tickets with my boyfriend had a surgery, so I'm here
to like look look after him and say hey da
him and all that thing. Okay, well so you're thinking
about relocating though, Yeah, it's good. It means the move yeah,
you know. But when I want to quickly talk about
how remarkable, um and great that coal miners scene you

(56:27):
do what RuPaul was? Oh? Thanks, We were just talking
about that before, how it wasn't in the real show
it was. It was a thing they put online and
their hands on it was so great. It was really
really good. I was. I was talking about how one
of my worst moments at the show was when that
sketch got It wasn't cut for time at first. It

(56:49):
was moved to later on in the show, like after
the second time the musical, after the second time Justin
Bieber went on, so it was like, it's definitely getting
cut for time, it's definitely getting tough for time. It did,
and then I justin these songs one, no, no, no,
no no. So literally, when Justin Bieber was on stage,
I can tell the story when Justin Bieber was on
stage the second time and I was like, the odds
of this coming to term are not good. So I

(57:11):
went out to see Justin Bieber's number, and then I
sidled up next to Lauren because Laurence sits stands on
the floor whenever the musical guest goes up, and I
went up to him and whispered to him, can we
please put the dress rehearsal version online? And then he goes, yeah,
we can. Because I was like, because I had explained
to like, because I was like, because he knew that, like,

(57:31):
this was such an important show for me that like,
I'm not going to feel this way about any other host.
Like it's rue, you know, and like as much of
like a you know, a little like Rorschach test Rue
is for a lot of queer people. Now, it's like
it's it's still rue, Paul, Like it's still you know,
you don't need to explain to me life in a
lot of ways. And I don't expect anyone to be perfect,

(57:52):
so I don't need any explanation of why is important
me of all people? Sure, sure, but it's like and
we can all like is like I thought you like
settled up? I thought you like, I'm surprised you didn't
since Nancy caring to think out just the sneak out
to buy more time for your Yeah, who knows, I

(58:13):
don't think, Oh, thank you. It was like, you know,
like I I was proud of a lot of the
like sort of queer leaning stuff that I've gotten on
the show in the past, and I was like, well,
this is it's rude. Like I gotta, like, you know,
try to like throw in something fun and like but
also like classic, and so you know, we just basically
wrote like a Dynasty scene taking place. It was very Yeah,

(58:37):
it was. It was obviously burned in the bottle at
some point. It was very burned to the bottle at
something dying burned in the bottle, dying name burned, burned
in a bottle bottle. Wait, you know I thought of
I thought of one before. Has anyone done this head
of topper headed top like miss head a hopper? No one?

(59:00):
I think no one's done it because it's bad. I
think because it's a really bad drag. Honestly, I said it,
and I was like, this is a C plus attempt.
You lose your enthusiasm as you're saying this head of topper. Um,
I'm a really big fan of Are you familiar with

(59:22):
Mommy DearS at all? Like yes, yes, I just want
I just watched it recently, like gay familiar, not just
a little familiar with familiar. What do you bring up?
What's the reference? A great drag name will be Barbara,
please please, and there's some please Barbara, please please, Barbara,
please Barbara. You needed to ask Caroline God, I need please?

(59:46):
Isn't that a great name? Walking the stage? Barbara? Please
please please Barbara. Something about the apps too? If you
need anything? This is wonderful. This isn't what you you
delifferently and empressed me in front of the reporters us

(01:00:08):
you love to make me hit you. It's so good, truly.
When Ruke came like there was there was like a
like twenty minutes where it was me Rue, James Anderson,
another gay writer at the show and we're just quoting
Mommy Dearest and just but like the second that like
ru felt comfortable with us, I could tell was when
um uh was when I said I'm not mad at you,

(01:00:29):
I'm mad at the dirt and like them like it
all like fell away and we were we were like
on good terms and it was it was all good
from there. It's like we had a party and one
guy's like, I'm just gonna do one bump of coats
or everyone knows it's cool. Yeah, I was gonna do it.
I'm just gonna do it in the middle of the room.
So everyone here, we're just starting into the atmosphere and

(01:00:53):
we're off, and then we're off. You gotta test the gay.
You gotta know which quote to do. You can in
that quote in some rooms they don't get nothing. But
then you're looking at someone and go, oh, so you agree,
you think you're yeah, yeah, I mean it's a generational
divide for sure. But then our friend's studie Green has

(01:01:15):
a really good one. I think a really good drag name,
which which is old tweets, but I think old for anything,
old before anything is a good drag name. Oh here
comes old tweets Old. A good drag king name is
a Lincoln bio or or or deleted tweet is horrible

(01:01:40):
things when whenever anyone refers to um, whenever there's an
article that's like in a tweet that has since been deleted,
I just love that sentence that intro like in a
tweet that since been deleted. Well, I'm always in treatment
the fact that in these news articles are always just
they actually U r L copy the link instead of
screen grabby, like mama problematic, it's gonna thinking away screen

(01:02:01):
grab that mug mom. Always that break and grab that
mug mom. Real culture. Um, Bob, I just want to
I did want to say thank you for giving us
our fucking favorite episode of Game Show Too. You came
out and played that so sweet. I think you had
a lot of fun that day. It was weird we

(01:02:21):
had and Darcy reached out to me on the internet
and I was like, oh my god, she's the best ever. Yeah,
she's really sweet, She's the best ever, wonderful. Um, alright,
so what do you say? Bone? Is it time I think? Well,
before I do that, I can't leave. I know I've
said it before air, but I want everyone to know
that I also appreciate Mad Roger because I was talking
mad about his hit song be a Bit Too to

(01:02:42):
Friend this Pride available on Instagram and YouTube at some
point because that was like something Bone and I were
doing for fun whatever, And then once Drinksman soon liked it,
I was like, oh, maybe this take has legs And
I still have a standing offer from her to go
into the studio and do a recording of it, and
she said she would jump on the track, And I'm saying, now, Bob,
the jack creen also needs to be on the track. Listen,

(01:03:05):
you want some cabaret jazz version, No, you, We're gonna
do a bitch track called be a Bit to your
Closest Friends Pride. Honestly, I'm doubt And also, you know,
Jinks contacted me and she was like, I'd like to
do the song in my show, and I was like, please,
please do it. She's probably performed it more than I
have at this point. Listen, I'm gonna right now, man,

(01:03:27):
we gotta we gotta trade numbers. We're gonna, We're gonna
get being based to your closest friends trending. You're seeing
the beginnings of a collab. I'm into it, all right,
Let's do I don't Think so, honey. So this is

(01:03:47):
our finale of every episode of Lost Culture, which is
I don't Think so honey. We take sixty seconds to
rail against something in pop culture that, let me tell
you something we hate. Sorry to say the word hate,
but this is worth saying it. We don't I get it?
Needs to be dressed down bo when I do have
something I could do, Okay, that's good. Um, I've got
you on the clock that is patent Rodgers. I don't
think so, honey. As time starts now, I don't think

(01:04:10):
so honey, bugs you have to go. I understand that
we need some of you for the environment, but Sugar,
we are already going down, absolutely so winging in that area.
So we're actually gonna let go of bugs. I have
to say, I don't think so, honey. Bugs. You're itchy,
you're crawley, you're looky, you're bookie, you are not it.

(01:04:32):
Can I say something? You're too small, and if you're big,
fuck you even more. Fuck bugs of all curs, and
fuck the stinging that bugs do. I'm out here on
Long Island. I'm dealing with the humidity. The bugs are
out here. They're not here to play. They're here to bite,
there here to suck, there here to fuck. Unfortunately, I'm
sorry to say. Here's what i'd say, bugs. I like

(01:04:56):
no media about you, not even Ants, which has j Lo,
which I usually love all her ship. J Lo was
not even giving you ten percent in the movie. And
I don't want to watch a bug's life. I'd rather
get thrown into uh lava pit. No bugs, I don't
there's a honey bugs and that's one minute and there's
none in Los Angeles. That's not true. Shut up a

(01:05:18):
false Shut up, you're both wrong. Get out of here. No,
that's just because you're an actor. That's that's because you
have the ability to play belize. And I don't believe
that there was a bug right there. That's called word play.
That's I mean, I don't think so. Honey bugs and
they can go if if this earth is sinking the

(01:05:39):
way I feel it is that we can get rid
of them. Bugs found dad, bugs, bugs about bugs will
outlive us all bugs. Yeah, bugs are bugs right here
to stay. I'm sorry, Now that's odd. I think that
the reason why bugs are doing so what was because
they aren't expected to stick around as long has a
longer animals stick around, the worst off they are. Why
are elephants always extinct? And why there's so many sucking flaws?

(01:06:01):
It's truly the worst. The worst animals are the ones
that there's a lot of. It's true. I would love
to see more pandas out here, but you know what,
there's just not very many of them. Also, there was
a lot to I don't think, so honey this week,
and I chose bugs I could have. I don't think
so honey. Anyone tweeting about how the CARDI BN Megan
single is inappropriate go fund yourself. Who's saying that? Now?

(01:06:23):
It's it's like it's like a lot of Republican congressmen
being like what is this. I'm like, why the hell
do they care? It's because they can have their little
talking point. Yeah. Yeah, there was a ton to I
don't think, so honey this week, and I chose bugs.
I've got one. I've got I've got a pretty crazy one.
I love when you have one. Okay, so I think
you got a pretty crazy one. I think people people

(01:06:46):
will relate, all right, So this is gonna be bone.
I don't think so honey. As time starts now, I
don't think so honey. Speaking of books, books with like
the fake distress texture already and now let me distress
the books on my own. I want to wear down
the book with the elements in my house. Don't give
me this like series of unfortunate events like you know,

(01:07:07):
were like on the book, like when the pages get
all like scratchy on the side. When they do that,
they distress it on purpose to make the book seem
rustic or something. I don't I don't even know what
aesthetic it falls into, Honey, I don't think you selling
me a book that is supposed to look bad when
I don't know how that serves the narrative. I don't
know how that serves the marketing. Were beyond this. The

(01:07:30):
distressed books aesthetic is trapped in two thousand three. We
are seventeen years removed, transcended from that moment. Do not
pull back into the tide of two thousand three, because look,
we think the country's bad now, is pretty bad back
then too, maybe not as bad as it is now.
But the that Iraq war that really did a number
on everything, that Iraq war. And that's one minute. So

(01:07:53):
but when I get it, you wanta you want to
be the one to whether your own materials. Yes, do
you know what I'm talking about? Like, it's it's here.
I have one right right in front of me forest.
I know what you're talking about. It's it's this thing.
It's like it's got like the ridges there, you know,
like those kinds of books that are like fake torn up. Sure, sure, sure,
you don't need to do the work in reading the book.

(01:08:15):
When it comes to Boney, you give it to him
hill Weather at himself. He will tear through these books.
I mean, I do love. I do love that you're
able to, you know, wear a book down physically. And
that's something he missed from from audio books or from
uh from yeah, from audio books and e books. So
it's actually a really culture. You can't wear an audio
book down. You can't wear it. It's a real culture.
Number fourteen. It can't be fourteen. There's so many four

(01:08:36):
teensy three. You can't wear an audio book down. All right,
Bob the drag Queen already with it. I don't think so, honey.
All right, I just wrote one for myself. I didn't
to try to have one kind of guest. Let's see
if this is a minute at all, and if not,
also all star ranting you're ready, this is beautiful. This
is Bob the drag Queens. I don't think so, honey,

(01:08:57):
And uh, time starts now, game, I don't think so too.
Showing your video in a zoom, why do you need
to see my face? You already know what I look like.
I chose this picture for a reason. This is a
photo shopped image. And not only that, but I took
this picture back when I first moved to New York
City and at the skin of a nut free Milky

(01:09:19):
Way chocolate bar. And now I'm a webbing age Reese's
pizza you found in the couch after five years. The
shower this morning, and I haven't showered in the last
week at all. If we're being honest, and if I
turned my camera, if I don't turn my camera on,
you need to know that I'm only dressed from the
waist up. And on top of that, the only clean
part of my apartment is the area you are seeing

(01:09:42):
behind me. If I turn my camera to the or
to the right, it's absolutely gonna look like the day
after the Stonewall riots. So we lug into the video
and you say, can't we see your face? The answer
is a flaming fucking no, you cannot. I And that's
one minute. Everyone. We should just make it clear that Bob,

(01:10:04):
I think that was directed at us, and and we
and we we can receive it. Yeah, we just want
to say that first of all, in this quarantem and
this quarantine we have to be reserving something, and if
that must mean face to face contact, we're happy to
see you. And that photo that you had up before
was you know, the photo shop. I mean it was gorgeous,

(01:10:25):
but that wasn't the real Bob. That wasn't the real Bob.
That was a curated version. That was a curated And
now he's hidden, he's hid in the video. Wow. See,
And already it's a less sort of visually commanding experience
without experience. But that was an excellent I don't think so, honey.

(01:10:48):
What are the rules? I mean, like if you're not
like you know, on the meeting, or if you're not
like pulling focus, it's like, yeah, I don't really want
to be seen all that the entire time. Either is
everyone knows their video is not on. Like when people
are like your videos got on, it's like a bitch.
We the fu no us right before this, and we

(01:11:09):
were like, I don't think Bob his video was on.
He heard us the whole time. He was just like
getting ready, rolling his fucking damn eyes. These two, Um damn,
what a pleasure for us to have you, Bob the
drag Queen. So wonderful. It's been coming on. It's been

(01:11:30):
really wonderful. I really think you're both really magnificent And um,
what's good with this reading of your show? You're gonna
do a reading of your your play Night Soap is Uh,
it's on the schedule. We just don't know where it
is on the schedule, but we're going to figure out
about that and then we will let everyone know. But basically,
Bone and I wrote it. We what was it anfest?

(01:11:52):
It was years ago. We Ruby Rue, who I'm sure
you know, got up, got us all up and dragged
and beat our face for the very first time ever.
And we basically played two warring women in the chocolate
industry and we wrote a whole play about it. And uh,
Bowen and I are going to do it, and we'll
be donating all the money that people, um would sort

(01:12:15):
of throw our way to watch it. Not that you
have to in order to watch it, but it's a
two person show. Yes, I can't wait to see. I
would love to whenever happens, let me know, I would
love to attend. Oh my god, I think my life
this is not. I feel like I'm confident enough in
the writing and just in your um and your sensibilities

(01:12:38):
that I think you would enjoy this, I really do.
I don't remally say that to throw back to the
Dynasty era war paint. It's very war paint. Is there
like a timeline, like in the next month, In the
next I would say, in the next month, yes, yes, no,
it's that was ahead of top or delivery. Your voice

(01:12:59):
didn't up, but it went up a few notes. Top
is it better if? If? It? Is? It better if
it's ted? A topper in the next month tends to
be Boone tends to be a little bit busier than
me with his job on the hit sketch show Saturday

(01:13:20):
Night Live. Not anymore, not for not for a while longer. Um, well, yeah,
we'll do it the next month. We'll do that. Um.
And also it is we we totally forgot sibling rivalry.
Sibling you better be listening to sibling rivalry With the
mon exchange, who is someone that we must get on
this pot wonderful wet You know? I went on the

(01:13:47):
exchange right and it was so fun and Monai like
Money's got the damn set up. Money looks gorgeous over
the zoom camera. We gotta say so, you're acknowledging person
she didn't look like good. Drag her? Wow, boy, and
the library is closed. You said we love all the

(01:14:08):
New York Queens. Every year, whenever the New York Queens
go on, we are in the corner and also to
the left, and then the things that goes up you
and you look like baby Yoda. Yeah, Baby yodas cute.
What are you gonna let baby Yoda here? That's the question. Yes,
did you see baby Yoda in the WAP video? Oh

(01:14:32):
that's something I'm gonna need. Honestly, I just tweeted the
other day picture goodnight plus see what acid is damn
dirty to me? Baby Yoda speaking in adult Yoda's voice,
jarring hot moment. You just you just dragged you exposed me.
I've not seen the Mandalorian. I'm just jumping on the

(01:14:53):
Baby Yoda. You're missing wagon zero, you're missing zero? All right? Yeah,
he will watch Mandalorian. You didn't watch Mandalorian? No, definitely not.
But I did watch We're Here, which is we need
for a second season. Congratulations, the plug of it all.
And then let's win that fucking emmy, shall we? In fact,
before you go, let's see who the funk you're up against?

(01:15:14):
I want to I want to spread. I want to
be Schumer r up against Kevin Hart. Um. Okay, yes,
Amy Schumer learns to cook. That ain't winning an Emmy. Cheer, Oh, Cheer, Cheer. Cheer.
Cheer is a cultural moment. But you know what we
are people, We're here. I love Cheer. I remember not

(01:15:40):
that much about the show, like with some distance. I'm like,
it was it was all very it was, it was
very sort of. It didn't occupy space in my brain
for that long. And I love it. I think it's
a wonderful work. But I feel like we're here is
just so important culturally that I heard that the director
of Cheer is a Holocaust denier. Damn on that. But

(01:16:03):
I'm trying to I'm trying to get out. I'm gonna
have to vote elsewhere on that one. How do you
say that? Okay, listen, this is a campaign, and on
the campaign trail things get very ugly, you get dirty.
We have um Okay, but also can we say three
out of five of these shows are super super queer,
so you gotta love that love, right, So I'm still

(01:16:27):
there's there's two drag shows there and also alright, well,
damn the drag Queen. Thank you for coming and doing
Lost Culture my pleasure. Thank you all. And I'll see
what they're reading. Yes, yes, and also you know we
and every episode with the song, isn't that right? Bowen Yang?

(01:16:51):
It's rights and here we go, Jessy love me, how
well I know you're doing it all? I boy,