Small Talk: Interior Illusions Lounge

[Halo]

Alaska is my absolute favorite queen. I have her album, and it's stunning.

[buttercupia]

I saw Alaska live during Sharon's season doing a charity event for a local animal shelter and she was so great. And an obvious star.  The charisma just oozes off of her/.  Plus shes super sweet.  She's also my very favorite and I still think she should have won season 5.

[Cosmic Muffin]

I like Alaska's youtube series, Brolaska, with her brother, Cory. Actually, I like everything she does.

[Dirtybubble]

I like Alaska's youtube series, Brolaska, with her brother, Cory. Actually, I like everything she does.

The Brolaska videos and Alyssia's Secret are the only 2 videos from the queens that I watch religiously.  I keep hearing that Acid Betty is going to have her own youtube series but I've only seen a couple of vids from Ask Acid--I hope that's not what people are speaking of.

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm in North Carolina, and while there are a lot of moronic bigots here--the worst of all being our Governor and General Assembly--believe me,a lot of us here are against that unconstitutional bill. However, I can't image who Courtney would be doing. She must be doing some generic religious nut.

 

That said, I'm really worried because I have tickets to see RPDR:BotS in May. The show is actually booked into one of the biggest performing arts center in the state (in a very LGBTQ-friendly city, I might add). But considering all the cancellations here lately, I wonder if I should just go ahead and make other plans for that night. 

 

On a positive note, this past Saturday I did get to see Alaska in NYC doing Cher and Cher Alike with Handsome Jeremy. My love for Alaska has just grown even more. She's stunning in real life and her singing was amazing. She's my queen for life.

I wonder if she was doing Kim Davis, and just moved her out of Kentucky into NC.  When I first read oakLeaf's description, I thought that's who it was until I realized Kim Davis isn't from NC.

[Demented Daisy]

Anyone else lose Logo today?  The channel is just gone from Dish.  Grrr.  

[ABitOFluff]

I finally realized that Courtney is doing an original character named Caroline North. And they are playing NC after all, so I'll see them tomorrow night!

[kieyra]

Will be at DPAC tonight, somewhere in second row, polka dot dress. :)

[Cosmic Muffin]

Penis in the Ladies Room

Jackie Beat and Willam have a new music video about the NC bathroom bigotry, linked above. It's a parody of Klymaxx's Meeting in the Ladies Room.

I thought it was really well done, pointed and funny. Enjoy!

[kieyra]

Durham show tonight--Michelle pulled a standing ovation speaking out about HB2 (if you were there, I was one of the first people to stand, down in front on the right.) Mostly full Performing Arts Center--this is where we get our Broadway South productions. Much fancier than when I saw ABCD in DC/2014.

The show was fantastic. Mini snatch game, a RHPS medley, Ginger slaying with comedy, Adore getting eaten up by the love of the crowd as always, Alaska being hilarious, Phi Phi can sing? (Couldn't tell who was really singing.) Fame and Violet looked sickening. A quick PSA by an anti-HB2 volunteer group. The RHPS number had people doing the Time Warp in the aisles. 

[JakeyJokes]

Does anyone have plans for Pride? My city is getting shock full of RPDR alumni for Pride Weekend. One could possibly see Naomi Smalls, RAVEN, Pearl, Detox, Adore, Naysha, Robbie, Ericka Jayne (ok, not a drag queen but I felt like noting), Carmen Carerra, and I might even be forgetting a few names.

[OnceSane]

Latrice Royale will be in my town later this month, I'm trying to find a babysitter my son won't freak out around so I can take my husband to see her.

[JakeyJokes]

I met Derrick Barry as a boy last night (he had an afternoon gig here). Very nice and sweet, especially at the second bar I saw him at when everyone wanted a picture with him. He looks just like he does on TV.

[RCharter]

6 hours ago, OnceSane said:

Latrice Royale will be in my town later this month, I'm trying to find a babysitter my son won't freak out around so I can take my husband to see her.

You're so lucky!  Kids ruin everything!  Just kidding, I'm sure you'll find a sitter your son will be cool around.  Or at least I hope you do.....I love hearing stories about how amazing Latrice Royale is!

[Couver]

Question for those who have attended a BOTS show. How long does it last?

I'm going to the one in Vancouver this coming Sunday (so excited). But of course out of nowhere I have an interview early Monday morning that I can't miss. I don't want to have to leave in the middle of a performance though. Does it usually wrap up around midnight? 

[JakeyJokes]

I think they're about 3 hours. We had one here Sunday night (the day after Orlando ... God bless them) and people were at the bar when I arrived (well after midnight). If you have meet and greet tickets, those usually occur before the show.

[Couver]

Good to know. Thank you! 

 

I honestly didn't expect them to have a stop in my city and was so happy when I saw the date appear on the BOTS site. 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Couver

[kieyra]

Hey guys. AS2 teaser clip looks good. Here's hoping.

I still listen to the Ross Mathews podcast every week, and last week he slipped up and sounded like he accidentally confirmed that S9 is filming now. (Although maybe we already know this, but he was shushed by his mgr.) 

Edited August 26, 2016 by kieyra

[Dirtybubble]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

Hey guys. BOTS2 teaser clip looks good. Here's hoping.

I still listen to the Ross Mathews podcast every week, and last week he slipped up and sounded like he accidentally confirmed that S9 is filming now. (Although maybe we already know this, but he was shushed by his mgr.) 

The Nancy Drews on reddit are saying that filming for S9 began at the beginning of August...

[kieyra]

7 minutes ago, Dirtybubble said:

The Nancy Drews on reddit are saying that filming for S9 began at the beginning of August...

I've been leaning towards going back to reddit but last time I tried it was nothing but pages and pages of fake links to the preview that didn't exist at that time. =D

[Dirtybubble]

3 hours ago, kieyra said:

I've been leaning towards going back to reddit but last time I tried it was nothing but pages and pages of fake links to the preview that didn't exist at that time. =D

Yeah it's a lot of B.S. to sort thru but now that new season is starting up the threads become more reliable and informative.

Kieyra, when's the new book coming out?! =)

[kieyra]

5 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

Yeah it's a lot of B.S. to sort thru but now that new season is starting up the threads become more reliable and informative.

Kieyra, when's the new book coming out?! =)

Ok, I'll re-subscribe to the main sub.

Actually didn't a private sub get split off at some point? I came in like one day too late to get invited to it. =D

The second book had been like 95% done for a long time, my day job just got crazy. Thank you for thinking of me. I can't remember if we've chatted since I saw the BOTS show in Durham but it was awesome. :) 

(...and I see upthread I typed "BOTS2" when I meant AS2.)

[Dirtybubble]

13 hours ago, kieyra said:

Ok, I'll re-subscribe to the main sub.

Actually didn't a private sub get split off at some point? I came in like one day too late to get invited to it. =D

The second book had been like 95% done for a long time, my day job just got crazy. Thank you for thinking of me. I can't remember if we've chatted since I saw the BOTS show in Durham but it was awesome. :) 

(...and I see upthread I typed "BOTS2" when I meant AS2.)

I don't know if a separate sub has been formed or not.  I just go to the standard one.  Do you know what the new one is called.  Glad u had fun at the BOTS show...you wanna spill some T, who was there, who was the best, did you go to the meet-n-greet?

[JakeyJokes]

Decided to put this here since it wasn't specifically about Episode 1. We were discussing why Willam wasn't on AS2, so here was my take on it.

I'm obsessed with his Tumblr, and here's all the T that I've cobbled together:

*He probably wouldn't go on the show, but he's (understandably) upset that they don't even ask him, especially when he's #1 in many fan polls. He has said he'd be willing to at least look at the contract.

A queen who applied sent him a copy of the contract and he agreed that it's ridiculous. Basically, World of Wonder OWNS your ass for three years. They get a major cut of any YouTube videos you do. The only real way to benefit from this is if you get your own WOW online show like some queens have)

*Also, Ru made unflattering comments about Courtney Act and Willam to Todrick Hall and Todrick played runteldat and played Willam the voicemail and his opinion of Ru has considerably soured. About a month ago, Willam called out Ru on Twitter for accepting a super expensive booking fee at Pride (like, high six figures) and showed up as a man.

[kieyra]

Thanks, JakeyJokes.

I know I've heard Willam mention Ru chiding him for going "off script" in S4. I know we can't really know everything that goes down behind the scenes, but I can't help love the idea of Willam as the rebel who just refused to play along.

I also realize he'd probably prefer the RPDR paychecks over my admiration. :)

It also seems like it would be (relative) ratings gold to have him back on the show. But my gut instinct is that it's the one situation Ru's ego can't deal with, since Willam refuses to worship at the Ru altar ... and that's probably more or less the end of it.

(noextrai, not sure if you still lurk here--God knows Reddit is batshit these days--but I love you!)

[kieyra]

On August 26, 2016 at 9:52 AM, Dirtybubble said:

I don't know if a separate sub has been formed or not.  I just go to the standard one.  Do you know what the new one is called.  Glad u had fun at the BOTS show...you wanna spill some T, who was there, who was the best, did you go to the meet-n-greet?

Oh sorry missed this. 

I thought Ginger was a real standout. Phi Phi was surprisingly great. They were both hilarious in the Snatch Game bit. (Ginger and Michelle have a cute bitchy thing going between them.) Adore did her thing where she runs through the crowd and everyone loves her. Violet did a striptease. She's never done too much for me, but I couldn't look away. They did a few numbers from Rocky Horror, and that was amazingly fun. They did a runway to that song "Amazing". I guess I should mention that ths Instagram kid from S7 was there, but all she did was a DJ set with a fan blowing on her before the show. Argh, not being mean, can't remember her name. Oh, Fame did an interesting thing where she paints. It was like one of the slower acts from a Cirque du Soleil show.

Standout for me was how hilarious Ginger's stuff was, and the RHPS mini-medley. 

Michelle also spoke passionately about HB2. She also generally encouraged people to suck less and be less mean to the queens on social media. 

The venue was almost full and the energy was great. But we needed them in NC and I'm glad they didn't boycott. 

This was also several weeks before the summer tragedies and massacres started ... I imagine things would have been a little more somber had it been just a few weeks later. :( 

We technically had M&G tickets but I'm celeb phobic and I already made a fool of myself meeting Bianca once. :)

[editorgrrl]

Did anyone watch Finding Prince Charming on Logo after All-Stars? (It's to The Bachelor what RPDR is to ANTM.) The suitor is hot and thoughtful, and there's a possibility of hookups among the contestants.

[Dirtybubble]

16 hours ago, editorgrrl said:

Did anyone watch Finding Prince Charming on Logo after All-Stars? (It's to The Bachelor what RPDR is to ANTM.) The suitor is hot and thoughtful, and there's a possibility of hookups among the contestants.

Is there a separate thread for that show?  I DVR'ed it but I haven't seen it yet. Yeah the suitor is kinda cute and there is an extra element added when all the potential mates can hook up with each other.  If they are looking for love (or just hookups) why not find it in a fellow contestant.....not everyone is just gonna fall head-over-heels with the bachelor.

[editorgrrl]

Please come vote for RPDR in today's King of Disparate TV Things Mountain. (It's losing badly to Golden Girls.)

[marsha]

I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question but, here goes:  I recently read (I believe it was on my Facebook newsfeed so, of course, it must be true ;) ) that someone recently reported going to a show of Bianca's and said that Miss Del Rio told the crowd that the only thing she received from her Season Six win was the $100,000.00 check and nothing else. No 'sequin queen custom gown, no cruise, no whatever else she won for individual competitions. Also, apparently, this is 'common knowledge' that none of the contestants ever get their prizes. Can this really be true? Has anyone ever heard of this before?

[Cosmic Muffin]

I've heard others say they didn't get their prizes, can't think of any specific queens/prizes though, sorry.

[Jesse]

I'm hoping people here will yell "RIGGER MORRIS" with me when Trump says the election is going to be rigged, because apparently none of my other friends are into it!

[HunterHunted]

On Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at 7:24 PM, JakeyJokes said:

Decided to put this here since it wasn't specifically about Episode 1. We were discussing why Willam wasn't on AS2, so here was my take on it.

I'm obsessed with his Tumblr, and here's all the T that I've cobbled together:

*He probably wouldn't go on the show, but he's (understandably) upset that they don't even ask him, especially when he's #1 in many fan polls. He has said he'd be willing to at least look at the contract.

A queen who applied sent him a copy of the contract and he agreed that it's ridiculous. Basically, World of Wonder OWNS your ass for three years. They get a major cut of any YouTube videos you do. The only real way to benefit from this is if you get your own WOW online show like some queens have)

*Also, Ru made unflattering comments about Courtney Act and Willam to Todrick Hall and Todrick played runteldat and played Willam the voicemail and his opinion of Ru has considerably soured. About a month ago, Willam called out Ru on Twitter for accepting a super expensive booking fee at Pride (like, high six figures) and showed up as a man.

2011 is the year that the reality tv asteroid hit. That's the year that Bethenny Frankel sold Skinnygirl to Jim Beam and everyone got serious about writing their reality tv show contracts to include profit sharing. 2011 is also when the ratings for Shark Tank started to improve and the show was becoming a hit. Up until then, I think a lot of production companies and networks thought that there wasn't much to monetize from their reality shows except for advertising revenues. And then Bethenny Frankel sold her disgusting lime flavored piss water to Jim Beam for $100 million and ABC had a show where you had to sign over a 2% royalty or 5% equity in your products regardless of whether the "sharks" invested in it. And late 2010 or 2011 was when they filmed Willam's season.

Willam was probably pretty lucky because RPDR had probably wrapped filming before everyone realized that they needed to include profit sharing in the contracts with the contestants. American Idol and Project Runway had always had those provisions in their contracts, but no one in the outside world really paid attention to them because the music industry has always operated that way (and musicians from 0 to 100 all have stories about the label, their producer, their manager structuring deals so that the artist made no money) and no Project Runway alum had yet to make any money from their collections. Willam had a decent career before the show and wasn't hamstrung by contract provisions, so I think he was able to use the show expand his brand and notoriety.

I like Ru a lot, but sometimes there is this real nastiness that comes through. I'm not sure if it's bitterness about how much he had to hustle and how certain opportunities were not available to him either because he was a trailblazer or his race or his height were considerations. I think he's internalized a lot of the biases of Hollywood and casting agents because he had some clear love on his pagent queens, but I also think he's a little resentful of them. I think Ru had a hard time trying to create a form of drag that wasn't the type of Catskills Chitlin Circuit drag that you see in comedy like Wanda, Sheneneh, anytime Eddie Murphy is in drag, Milton Berle in drag, or drag done by any Wayans, but was funny and beautiful and sexy. A lot of that older comedy drag comes across as female grotesque. I think that Ru wanted to create a style that was a little bit of everything, funny, glamorous, a little transgressive, sexy, and could be a serious too. Basically it was RuPaul in or out of drag. I think a lot of the queens who were also performers tended to have similar approaches to drag.

[JakeyJokes]

Is anyone planning on seeing a Christmas Queens show this season? I saw one in Minneapolis last week (I know the coasts get different casts). My ticket was free so I can't really say if it was "worth it", but the cast was the Top 5 Season 8 queens (minus Derrick Barry plus Thorgy Thor), Roxxy Andrews, Pearl, and Tatianna.

Bob was the host and was by far the highlight of the evening. He opened with a stand-up routine and he has local ties to the Twin Cities, so the crowd ate it up.

Roxxy was really impressive and her first gown was full-on pageant realness with the sides cut out, and then after intermission she was the first queen to do a Mariah Carey number (everyone else was doing Ariana Grande and I was in full "Get off my lawn" mode). Chi Chi Devayne, in a long red gown, had my favorite performance when she did Mariah's O Holy Night and took us all to CHURCH.

At the end they did a Q & A. The show was already going long (and half the crowd left during intermission), and they kept flaring the lights as it was now after 11 PM. This did not deter Thorgy Thor from telling long and meandering stories that had nothing to do with the questions she was getting. The highlight of this segment was when Roxxy was asked what really happened with that reddit thread in All Stars 2 that leaked the whole season. She claimed that AS2, unlike other seasons, did not film any fake endings and what we got was what we got. Alaska got drunk and wasted when she came home, told her boyfriend every single excruciating detail, and he in turn posted these on reddit. Screengrabs were taken but the post was removed because, according to Roxxy, the boyfriend got a pay-off from either LOGO or World of Wonder.

"So, Alaska got a check," Roxxy said, "And her boyfriend got a check. But nobody else got a check."

Tatianna took the microphone. "Choices," she said, and the crowd left happy.

edit: Because Chi Chi Devayne and Chi Chi LaRue are *very* different people!

Edited November 25, 2016 by JakeyJokes

[kieyra]

I thought Alaska was a sober Buddhist now?

Never mind, maybe I'll dig up the bitterness thread instead. 

(First season where I didn't even watch the reunion.)

[kieyra]

Pretty sure I'm watching Thorgy Thor play the violin in Mozart in the Jungle.

[Granimal]

Well, no one will read this, as it's an off-season, but I'm so excited I had to share. I met Alaska! Ms. AS2 queen herself! She was AMAZING, and extremely nice and complimentary. I was a blabbering idiot, because Alaska (as ya'll know) has always been my fave. Then promptly ruined my phone and lost selfies. Blergh.

ETA: I ruined my phone and lost the selfies w/ Alaska. Alaska didn't ruin my phone- ha.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Granimal

[ClareWalks]

6 hours ago, Granimal said:

Well, no one will read this, as it's an off-season, but I'm so excited I had to share. I met Alaska! Ms. AS2 queen herself! She was AMAZING, and extremely nice and complimentary. I was a blabbering idiot, because Alaska (as ya'll know) has always been my fave. Then promptly ruined my phone and lost selfies. Blergh.

ETA: I ruined my phone and lost the selfies w/ Alaska. Alaska didn't ruin my phone- ha.

Alaska seems like a doll, glad to hear it's true! Alaska follows me on Twitter, actually. How it happened was, I was in Pittsburgh years ago visiting family and I tweeted a pic of the big Christmas display at PPG Place and tagged her (among other Pittsburgh celebs I followed). She immediately followed me and has followed me ever since. It's by far my biggest celebrity follow, although RuPaul and Josh Groban have both retweeted me, LOL.

[goodbyeglittergirl]

Y'all, one of the contestants for season 9 is from my podunk small TN hometown! I AM SO EXCITED FOR HER! I don't thinks she'll win - a) she's a big girl, and we know how that goes and b) she's not super polished, BUT regardless, I hope this sends her career soaring! Don't get sent home first, Eureka!

[Eliza422]

2 hours ago, goodbyeglittergirl said:

Y'all, one of the contestants for season 9 is from my podunk small TN hometown! I AM SO EXCITED FOR HER! I don't thinks she'll win - a) she's a big girl, and we know how that goes and b) she's not super polished, BUT regardless, I hope this sends her career soaring! Don't get sent home first, Eureka!

Is the new season starting soon - and will you be able to get us inside scoop? 

[RealReality]

7 hours ago, goodbyeglittergirl said:

Y'all, one of the contestants for season 9 is from my podunk small TN hometown! I AM SO EXCITED FOR HER! I don't thinks she'll win - a) she's a big girl, and we know how that goes and b) she's not super polished, BUT regardless, I hope this sends her career soaring! Don't get sent home first, Eureka!

Sadly, Latrice Royale is the number 1 big girl in my heart.  However, I do love a big, lovable queen, so I hope she does well!

[goodbyeglittergirl]

19 hours ago, Eliza422 said:

Is the new season starting soon - and will you be able to get us inside scoop? 

I don't know the exact air date - I just know it's "spring." 

Sadly, I don't live in my old hometown so no scoop for me, but I am wishing her the best! I'm just excited to see someone from home on RPDR!!!

[WhineandCheez]

My daughter and I fulfilled a fantasy of ours by going to see Alaska, Ginger Minj, Detox and Sherry Vine (non- contestant, NYC queen) at the Borgata Casino/Hotel in Atlantic City Saturday night.  The queens graciously stayed for about 1 1/2 hours after the sow so we could take (free) photos with them.  Fabulous show, surprising amount of actual singing, especially, Ginger and Sherry, vs lip syncing.  We adored it!

[JakeyJokes]

How does everyone feel about the channel/time change?

I get it's a business move and that VH1 will translate to a lot more viewers, but the Friday thing has almost every fan I know bugging. I live in a big city where viewing parties at gay bars are a big thing, and bars love having them on "slow" nights (Mondays were best, and Thursdays were acceptable). With the Friday date, there's rumors that one of our prominent local parties won't even be happening because the bar has enough going on when it's 7 PM on a Friday night =/

I live in Minneapolis and during AS2, there were no less than four bars that hosted viewing parties (one of them has since closed since it was a new gay bar that is in a cursed location and nothing ever lasts there more than six months). I saw the AS2 premiere at Boxers NYC and it was absolutely packed.

[ClareWalks]

41 minutes ago, JakeyJokes said:

 

How does everyone feel about the channel/time change?

 

It doesn't affect me much because I get neither Logo NOR VH1 in my cable package, so I have to get it on iTunes anyway. But I will say, I agree about your viewing-parties angle. Kind of weird to switch to Friday night when so many gay bars get lots of business on typically slow days with this show.

[MaryWebGirl]

I hadn't thought about the watch parties (I've never been to one) but that is a bummer. I'm personally OK with the time because I like watching fluffy TV on Friday nights . I use Apple TV so I'm not sure how that will work, but hopefully I can see it live-ish.

[Halo]

On 3/5/2017 at 10:24 AM, MaryWebGirl said:

I hadn't thought about the watch parties (I've never been to one) but that is a bummer. I'm personally OK with the time because I like watching fluffy TV on Friday nights . I use Apple TV so I'm not sure how that will work, but hopefully I can see it live-ish.

I'm another Apple TV user--VH1 streams live on Direct TV Now and on Sling, but I think that one's an add-on package. 

[Dirtybubble]

For me personally it doesn't matter what day it airs I'd still watch it BUT I am a bit nervous about the decision.  Normally Friday nights are where shows go to die.  When a show moves to Fri on ABC, NBC, or CBS it's doomed.  I didn't even think about the night club issue either.  I can't imagine why this decision was made but yay for it coming to VH1.  I wonder if it will be censored on VH1. *shrug* 

[Dirtybubble]

Also does anyone have the T on Untucked?  Is it still going to air on Youtube the day after?  So Saturday morning I guess it will air??  *shrug*

[TheLukeP]

I think there's still an opportunity to start the night out in bars with watch parties.... at least up here in MI, the bars don't really pick up until 10:30 or 11 ... it's super strange, because our bars are only open till 2a ... and I don't really see it being a problem in my second home Chicago, as the two bars that I can think of that would do viewings can and will most likely easily do them during Friday nights... (yay Roscoe's and SideTrack!)

eta: Just verified with Roscoes and SideTrack, and they're both doing viewing shows on Friday nights for the season... so no sweat for me.

Edited March 7, 2017 by TheLukeP