It used to be that I'd do drag, then get out of drag, and try and be as much of a boy as possible. That didn't feel entirely authentic for me, but it felt like what I had to do at the time.
— Jinkx Monsoon
It's not just putting on a little bit of makeup and putting on a dress. Some drag queens duct tape their heads, some drag queens are bound and strapped and pulled in every which direction. To be in drag is no small endeavor.
Drag queens, our whole art form is about taking inspiration from artists we adore.
When your career and your passion one in the same there is very little downtime.
Don't be afraid of wearing a lot of makeup. Like, a lot. Your eyes deserve to be showcased. I think it's important to just remember that whatever you think you hate about yourself, there's a way to counter that with makeup and make that part of you beautiful.
I guess it wasn't really part of my story on 'Drag Race' but I'm a trained actor and singer.
There was a time when I said I wouldn't do something like that but I've seen so many of my friends go on the 'All Stars' seasons and they seem to be having a lot of fun for the most part.
That openness to experimentation in Seattle is how I learned a drag queen doesn't have to just be in her pageant gear and lip syncing to top 40. Drag can be off-the-wall, ridiculous, profound.
Drag is very regional.
I think the best way I've grown as an artist period, not just in relation to creating music, is having a lot more confidence in myself.
My first drag role was the character Widow Simone in the ballet 'La Fille Mal Gardee.' She's a crazy social climbing woman trying to marry off her daughter to the wealthy town idiot. And in the middle of the show, she gets to perform a clog dance. I loved it.
I'm extremely into Greek Mythology and know almost everything about the classic Greek myths.
In any kind of performance field, there are always going to be 101 people doing the exact same thing as you. You always constantly have to be thinking of, 'What's going to shock my audience the most?'
Drag has come a long way and people are respecting it, and giving drag queens and other people who defy gender norms more chances than they've ever been given before, but it's thanks to people like RuPaul, especially, who set that momentum going.
I watched 'Drag Race Thailand' without any subtitles or voiceovers or anything; I don't speak Thai but I do speak drag, so I felt like I understood exactly what was going on, even though I couldn't speak Thai. I didn't understand anything they were saying but I knew exactly what was happening.
I was so nervous competing against Lyneshia Sparx. She's so gorgeous, and she's hilarious. When you get to know her, she's the most lovely person.
In the gay community there are not very many Jewish drag queens. I've always found that funny because there are a lot of Jewish gay people out there, so why aren't there more Jewish drag queens?
I really like women who are able to be classy and poised and really well put together when the time is right, but also be complete clowns.
With Jinkx Monsoon, I strive to make her pretty and likable and have this bubbly, lovely personality. But then she can also be the most crass, out of the blue, kooky character.
Everyone should be able to express themselves in the way that best suits them - life is too short to spend it unhappy.
I was always ready to submit my life to my career - but I don't think anything could have truly prepared me for the reality of that.
If you have to mask the things you're insecure about, go ahead. Wear four pairs of pantyhose, pad your hips, boost your boobs - whatever it takes to walk out of the house feeling like you own the world. Because there's no reason to waste your life hating something you can change.
Most people tell me that what they are surprised about the most is that I sing really well, I always find it funny.
I always say better busy than dead.
I think there's something for anyone who wants to be a performer in Seattle.
To be completely honest, I find New York to be too much city for me.
It's silly, but 'You Really Got a Hold on Me' has been a favorite song of mine for a long time.
I've always preferred drag roles, because typically I get better costumes and I've always felt more connected with the female characters in my favorite shows than most of the male characters.
Nowadays, 'Drag Race' shows how fantastic and amazing drag queens can be, so audiences won't sit through a boring show anymore. You have to keep people entertained.
Who knows where I would be if I hadn't gone on Drag Race and gotten that kick in the rear to step it up to the next level?
There's an old guard of drag, like the queens who got as big as they could possibly get before there was a TV show dedicated to drag queens.
I mean, drag is a universal language.
We have such an amazing drag community, and I don't think people fully realize it about Seattle.
Jinkx is a single mother and I've seen so many strong Jewish women.
Ever since I was a kid I just thought that women had the better outfits, women had the better hair, women got to wear makeup. I just got jealous of what women got to do onstage. You dress up a man and ultimately it's just a different variation on the same kind of suit. There's a whole wide world of what women wear onstage.
When I found the 'Human Nature' music video as a teenager - I've been a drag queen since 15 - I just loved that music video so much because it's such a celebration of her femininity and her sexuality. I thought it was so powerful.
When you become your own boss, and your artwork becomes your livelihood, it becomes the only thing you think about.
I used to hate that my lips are gigantic, and now I have huge red clown lips, and I love it.
I call myself a gorgeous anachronism.
I like to write my shows coming up with the stupidest things I can think of then finding a way I can incorporate a running theme or an underlying message that takes a stupid idea and gives it something worth watching.
You don't know that you're not a solo artist or standup comedian or drag cabaret artist until you try it.
I went to 'The Nutcracker' every year with my grandma and aunt. Then, in my early teen years, I thought I wanted to be a ballet dancer. I went real gung-ho in that direction, and I started performing in 'The Nutcracker.'
Coming out as nonbinary was a response to a lot of criticism I got when it leaked that I'd be playing a nonbinary character on 'Steven Universe.' I never really had the words like nonbinary or gender fluid or gender nonconforming until after 'Drag Race' and that's when I first started identifying publicly as nonbinary.
I'm not the hugest fan of pop music and electro music, which is why 'The Inevitable Album' was entirely live instruments.
I play a lot of video games, cook meals for my best friends and chosen family in Seattle, and find time to visit my family in Portland, Oregon.
As drag queens, you constantly have to be coming up with, 'What's the thing no one's ever seen before?'
I don't think I knew Ru was a drag queen when I would see her in 'The Brady Bunch Movie.'
If one drag queen penetrates the mainstream and opens up a new avenue for us to take with our careers, that means all of us can potentially do that.
I love puns and plays on words, which is why I love RuPaul so much.
I started drag in Portland, Oregon, but I don't feel that I came to life as a drag queen until I started working in Seattle. That's what really lit the rocket fuel in my career.
