1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,500 (funky music) 2 00:00:04,368 --> 00:00:06,567 - Welcome to Drag Con, what's your dream? 3 00:00:06,567 --> 00:00:09,067 (funky music) 4 00:00:10,980 --> 00:00:12,900 - Being left in a niche for a long time 5 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:15,580 the audience has grown so much recently. 6 00:00:15,580 --> 00:00:19,080 It's anything from teenage girls to little kids 7 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:20,460 and their parents. 8 00:00:20,460 --> 00:00:22,300 So how do you make sure that at an event like this 9 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:24,610 you're kind of catering to everyone? 10 00:00:24,610 --> 00:00:27,004 - I do think that we invest quite a bit of energy 11 00:00:27,004 --> 00:00:30,400 into curating the experience here. 12 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,788 I think we take pride in producing a Con that is 13 00:00:34,788 --> 00:00:36,790 fully experiential. 14 00:00:36,790 --> 00:00:39,900 I think that's what you expect coming to Rupaul's Drag Con. 15 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:42,770 You want it to be more than just a couple of booths. 16 00:00:42,770 --> 00:00:45,100 The Con needs to be like a drag queen. 17 00:00:45,100 --> 00:00:47,640 - When you kind of sit there each year do you think what 18 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,624 can we do next to bring in a new audience? 19 00:00:50,624 --> 00:00:53,127 - We do think about a new audience but I think more 20 00:00:53,127 --> 00:00:56,070 importantly we think about the audience. 21 00:00:56,070 --> 00:00:58,370 It's like you're having your friends over 22 00:00:58,370 --> 00:00:59,750 for a party. 23 00:00:59,750 --> 00:01:01,360 Like this is our tribe. 24 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,090 These are our people. 25 00:01:03,090 --> 00:01:06,050 And we are inviting them into this space 26 00:01:06,050 --> 00:01:09,580 and we want them to have the most fabulous time they can. 27 00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:12,540 - I mean I certainly think with Drag Con New York, 28 00:01:12,540 --> 00:01:16,350 Randy and I we met in New York and we ran around the streets 29 00:01:16,350 --> 00:01:17,183 with Rupaul. 30 00:01:17,183 --> 00:01:19,140 I mean so it's home in a sense. 31 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:21,186 But also you know with the Statue of Liberty in the harbor 32 00:01:21,186 --> 00:01:23,770 you know we're in that, the shadow of that 33 00:01:23,770 --> 00:01:26,627 and that symbol actually stands for freedom. 34 00:01:26,627 --> 00:01:30,380 Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. 35 00:01:30,380 --> 00:01:31,500 And your fabulous. 36 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:32,497 You know and be fabulous. 37 00:01:32,497 --> 00:01:35,041 - How do you go about creating your experience 38 00:01:35,041 --> 00:01:36,250 that you deliver? 39 00:01:36,250 --> 00:01:38,628 - Well I always tell people Drag Con is like Disneyland 40 00:01:38,628 --> 00:01:41,557 but you as a drag queen are the ride. 41 00:01:41,557 --> 00:01:43,447 And I'm the Tower of Terror. 42 00:01:43,447 --> 00:01:45,400 Well I want people to walk by my booth when I'm not here 43 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:46,950 and know exactly who's here. 44 00:01:46,950 --> 00:01:47,783 You know? 45 00:01:47,783 --> 00:01:49,380 Like you could, everybody's black curtains, 46 00:01:49,380 --> 00:01:50,920 pipe and drape. 47 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:52,730 You come over here and you're like this is a hooker 48 00:01:52,730 --> 00:01:53,563 from hell. 49 00:01:53,563 --> 00:01:55,749 - The audience is so diverse now that like, 50 00:01:55,749 --> 00:01:58,233 you know it's young kids, it's their parents. 51 00:01:58,233 --> 00:02:00,344 Foreigners, exactly. 52 00:02:00,344 --> 00:02:04,200 You know is it ever a worry that you can kind of dilute 53 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,530 who you are to try and kind of you know be too PG 54 00:02:07,530 --> 00:02:08,902 or anything like that? 55 00:02:08,902 --> 00:02:10,110 - I'm just like if they don't want it they don't want it 56 00:02:10,110 --> 00:02:11,440 but I really never change anything. 57 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,320 The same reason people are like so what is your makeup 58 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:14,350 in the daytime? 59 00:02:14,350 --> 00:02:15,183 This. 60 00:02:15,183 --> 00:02:16,900 So it doesn't matter who came, 61 00:02:16,900 --> 00:02:19,490 I tell people I do adult material. 62 00:02:19,490 --> 00:02:22,210 Like most drag queens are like I love kids, 63 00:02:22,210 --> 00:02:23,159 I wanna be around kids. 64 00:02:23,159 --> 00:02:25,160 I'm an adult performer for adults. 65 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:26,666 Think of me as like a porn actress. 66 00:02:26,666 --> 00:02:27,499 You know? 67 00:02:27,499 --> 00:02:29,840 - Drag Race obviously is a hit TV show but why is it 68 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,020 important as well to make sure that there's experiences 69 00:02:33,020 --> 00:02:35,170 that people can actually be involved in physically? 70 00:02:35,170 --> 00:02:37,662 - I think the screen age is something in a way that 71 00:02:37,662 --> 00:02:41,050 is isolating us from one another. 72 00:02:41,050 --> 00:02:44,290 And I just think when see each other I think certainly 73 00:02:44,290 --> 00:02:48,130 a lot of judgments and fears and prejudice evaporates 74 00:02:48,130 --> 00:02:51,410 because you suddenly realize that that person you thought 75 00:02:51,410 --> 00:02:54,050 this about, when you meet them it's just a whole 76 00:02:54,050 --> 00:02:54,920 different thing. 77 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:58,300 - Yeah and we are living in an age where there aren't 78 00:02:58,300 --> 00:02:59,650 always safe spaces. 79 00:02:59,650 --> 00:03:03,070 You walk through Drag Can and just you can feel the love 80 00:03:03,070 --> 00:03:05,820 and that energy and that's the way the whole world 81 00:03:05,820 --> 00:03:06,653 should be. 82 00:03:06,653 --> 00:03:08,820 The number one thing is to feel that connection 83 00:03:08,820 --> 00:03:11,680 and to be reminded of the possibility of the world 84 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,661 that we live in and to walk away from Drag Con 85 00:03:14,661 --> 00:03:18,360 with that energy and being inspired by that 86 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,150 and hopefully sharing that around the world. 87 00:03:22,150 --> 00:03:24,733 (gentle music)