Having realised my ambition of interviewing RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio it was only natural that I should set my sights on my other favourite Drag Race winner, the adorable AND hilarious Jinkx Monsoon. Since Jinkx is about to hit London’s Soho Theatre with the UK premiere of The Vaudevillians – a bawdy, rowdy musical comedy about two thawed out 1920s performers – I got my chance to talk to the drag star.
Kate Stone: Tell us about The Vaudevillians in which you star as Kitty Witless with Major Scales as Dr. Dan Von Dandy.
Jinkx Monsoon: The Vaudevillians is an idea that one of my best friends, and long time collaborator, Major Scales and I came up with after a long gruelling rehearsal for a play we were both in.
Essentially, we posed the question, what would it be like if some of our favourite pop songs from the last 90 years were actually just covers of songs from the 1920s and what would the original songs sound like? Thus, the vaudevillians were born.
KS: What attracts you to the vaudeville era?
JM: It was during America’s golden time, between two world wars, and it was a definitive time for American culture. There’s an electricity to the 1920s and the vaudeville style of performance. It also led the way to pretty much all the live entertainment that lives today!
KS: Which star would you like to bring back from that era?
JM: Fanny Brice, hands down.
KS: You were described on Drag Race as a ‘comedy queen’ – what came first for you? Comedy or drag?
JM: Comedy, definitely. I also thought of myself as having a good sense of comedic timing and characterisation and drag gave me an outlet for that.
KS: Your drag persona Jinkx Monsoon takes her surname from Edina in Absolutely Fabulous, are you a big fan of British comedy?
JM: Absolutely, Ive been watching Ab Fab since I was 10 years old, and that show, as well as other British comedies like Keeping Up Appearances, Katherine Tate, French and Saunders, Peep Show, and Harry Enfield. I think it has had a huge influence on my sense of comedy.
KS: Who are your favourite funny women?
Lucille Ball, Madeline Kahn, Carol Burnett, Jennifer Saunders, Maria Bamford, Sarah Silverman, and Kate McKinnon.
The Vaudevillians will be at the Soho Theatre from Monday 25th April to Saturday 14th May. For more information and tickets click here!
