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00:00Hello, my fellow Fruit Loops.
00:02Welcome to another episode of Whatcha Packin'.
00:10We are here with Boston's own Briar Blush.
00:13Hi, oh my God.
00:16How are you?
00:17I'm doing well, I'm happy to be here with you.
00:19Well, we have a lot to talk about,
00:20but I want to start with your name
00:22because it gives me Disney.
00:24Tell me where it comes from.
00:25Oh my God, oh God.
00:26Well, you know, the Briar patch and all that stuff.
00:29I've heard this, I'm really not a Disney person.
00:31So you wouldn't understand the reference?
00:33Well, it's been made clear to me
00:35throughout the years of my drag existence,
00:37but I got the name Briar because the thorns of a rose
00:41are called like a Briar Bush and stuff like that.
00:43And I thought like thorns were a cool thing
00:45to name yourself after because I'm very, I'm very sharp.
00:48Are you prickly?
00:49I'm a little prickly.
00:50What is it about you that makes you prickly?
00:52That I'm from Boston.
00:56You don't sound like a mass hole.
00:57Where were you raised?
00:58I was raised in Boston, but I'm from Guatemala.
01:00So you speak Spanish?
01:01I do.
01:02Over the years, it's faded a bit, but-
01:03Yeah, but I don't hear a Spanish accent.
01:05When I hear- Oh, I did when I was a kid.
01:06When I was a kid.
01:07Because my person name is Mikael.
01:10Uh-huh. Oh, nice.
01:12And so I'd be like, hi, my name is Mikael.
01:14I'm like so happy to be here right now.
01:16Oh, that's so cute.
01:17That's how I talked when I was growing up.
01:19I just went away.
01:20Yeah, but like there's no Boston to be found.
01:22Honestly, thank God.
01:23Well, I love it.
01:26I like the way that you do drag.
01:27It's kind of vintage, but it's also kind of quirky.
01:30And- Well, you know what I say?
01:31I say I'm the it girl of any time or place.
01:33There you go.
01:33Yeah.
01:34And when I look at your ass, I am reminded that you are from Boston.
01:40You might not have the accent, but you got the hips.
01:43I do have a nasty attitude.
01:45Perfect for Boston.
01:47Exactly, we're all .
01:48Tell me about the Boston butt.
01:50We call it the Boston body.
01:51Okay.
01:52The person who makes it, Camille Young, she is such a mastermind, also a little crazy
01:56because she is so specific about how she wants it to be.
01:59And does she measure you?
02:01She does.
02:02She only does pad fittings in person.
02:04I love that.
02:05I know.
02:06It's chic, isn't it?
02:07Yeah.
02:08Couture.
02:09Very couture.
02:10Does she use the carving knife?
02:11She does, but she also uses like a heated, like metal, like wax cutter or something.
02:14And then she also shaves it down with like a sand thing.
02:17And then she has you try it on a bunch of times with or without a corset and like, it's
02:21just so good.
02:22That's why it looks so good.
02:23Right?
02:24You, Kory King, and Plain Jane all use the same person?
02:27Yes.
02:28But I have the best face for the ass.
02:31How old are you?
02:32I'm 25.
02:33All right.
02:34So you are merely a pup.
02:35You are so gorgeous in drag.
02:36Your aesthetic out of drag is super fun too.
02:39Growing up, I was really goth, like really, really goth.
02:43Like white foundation, shaved off brows, bright red hair.
02:46I volunteered at a mortuary when I was 16.
02:48It was real.
02:49Because why not?
02:50Because why not?
02:51Robert Smith fan.
02:52Yeah.
02:53I mean, I also really love like Harrodsville.
02:54Obviously, Joan Jett always.
02:55One of my favorites of all time.
02:57Right?
02:58Yes.
02:59And I loved all sorts of like Suzie and the Banshee.
03:00Yes, me too.
03:01All sorts of stuff.
03:02Besides my musical taste, I think part of where my aesthetic comes from, I think, is
03:07that I didn't grow up with cable or anything like that.
03:09Okay.
03:10I had Turner Classic Movies, a bunch of VHSs, and a bunch of fashion magazines.
03:14So this makes sense.
03:15Yes.
03:16When did the drag, because you're 25, and how long have you been doing drag?
03:19Since I was 18.
03:20Okay.
03:21So how did you find it?
03:22Going out and just being like surrounded by queerdos and weirdos?
03:25So I remember when I was 16, I left home and I snuck into Machine Nightclub, which no
03:31longer exists in Boston, but I snuck in and I remember seeing drag for the first time.
03:35And I was always conscious of RuPaul, but this was my first time really experiencing it for
03:39the first time.
03:40I thought to myself, I was like, I want to do that.
03:42Oh, I love that.
03:43So let's talk about you passing out.
03:46Oh my God, it's so fun.
03:48Have you ever fainted before?
03:51No.
03:52That was your first time.
03:53That was my first time.
03:54What a time to do it, right?
03:55Briar, it was literally slow motion.
03:58That I felt like I was the only one seeing you do it.
04:01Like when you were on stage, I was looking at you and I was like, uh, are you okay?
04:05And you were going down.
04:06And I was like, guys, she's down.
04:08Let's go.
04:09Screaming for the medic.
04:10You know, I do.
04:11So let me tell you something.
04:12What do you remember?
04:13I remember looking at Law and Law goes, oh, don't make that face at me.
04:17And then I tried to force a smile because I was just confused and I felt really warm.
04:23I blinked.
04:24Next thing I know, Juicy's above me.
04:25That's like Briar, breathe, Briar, breathe.
04:27That's like, that's the next thing I saw.
04:29And at first I thought she was just looking at me sideways like this.
04:32Right.
04:33I didn't realize I was on the ground.
04:34You went down very gently.
04:35Oh, how gorgeous.
04:36Yeah.
04:37It was actually really beautiful the way you went.
04:39It was like something you'd see in a movie.
04:41One of your Turner classic films.
04:42That's fabulous.
04:43Yeah.
04:44I was really worried.
04:45I felt like a sack of potatoes.
04:46No.
04:47You can see the look of confusion on your face.
04:48And you, when you got up, you're like, did I faint?
04:51I was so, I was genuinely so confused because I remember the medic started asking me questions
04:56and I started to get like annoyed because I knew nothing good was going to happen the rest of the day.
05:00What was it?
05:01Um, so I.
05:02Did you not eat?
05:03No, I had pneumonia coming to Drag Race and I didn't know.
05:07I remember the night before I started to feel really bad and really like tired and exhausted.
05:12And then that happened.
05:14I think it, uh, all, everything just hit me at once and I went down.
05:20Scary.
05:21So scary.
05:22But you're okay now?
05:23I'm okay now.
05:24But when I got home, I ended up getting sepsis because.
05:26What?
05:27Briar?
05:28A few different ways you can get pneumonia.
05:29And I went to a doctor who didn't treat it properly and he was treating it in a different
05:33way than how I should have been treated.
05:35And so I ended up developing sepsis and got even more sick.
05:38Oh my goodness.
05:39Yeah.
05:40Well, thank God you're doing it right now.
05:41You're good now?
05:42Yeah.
05:43Your antibiotic treatment is done?
05:44Those antibiotics got me together, girl.
05:47What did you hope to get out of being on RuPaul's Drag Race?
05:49Well, for me, I have written and produced my own theater shows in Boston.
05:53I love this.
05:54Um, where I have wrote a narrative, uh, choreographed it, costumed it myself, like figured out all
06:00the campaign images and all that stuff.
06:02That's like my bread and butter is I do conceptual drag back home.
06:05Like basically five minute stories within a number.
06:08And that's something I've always, uh, really enjoyed about drag.
06:12And for me as an artist, I really like to put forward my innermost thoughts and emotions
06:18through drag.
06:19I like to do drag in a way that is, I get the message, but nobody else has to.
06:22Oh, okay.
06:23Right.
06:24So you don't, it's not preachy.
06:26No, I don't like, I don't like preachy.
06:27It's not art that resonates with me when I see that.
06:29Fair enough.
06:30And you're allowed to say that.
06:31Yeah.
06:32Art that does resonate with you is these gorgeous looks.
06:34I am so obsessed with that one.
06:37That one?
06:38Yes.
06:39Oh my God, fabulous.
06:41Tell me about it.
06:42So this one was meant to move with beautiful winds, hopefully.
06:44Yeah.
06:45It's a movement.
06:46Yes.
06:47It's a movement on this sort of like flame concept.
06:49And we found this beautiful fabric.
06:51And it was like a love of passion because we made this in like 12 hours.
06:55This guy named Cody in Boston did this for me while I was literally packing my stuff to
06:59board the plane.
07:00The colors are beautiful.
07:02I love the headscarf, all of it.
07:04What hair were you going to wear with that?
07:06I had a few options.
07:07I have an idea of what you should, but go ahead.
07:08I want to hear you first, actually.
07:10No, I want to hear what you're saying, actually.
07:12So my first idea was I was actually going to wear like a low ponytail that was big and curly.
07:15And then the other idea was like tight little finger waves on the head.
07:18So what I was thinking was loose, full curls down at the bottom.
07:23And that's the hair that needs to go with that.
07:25And the middle one is very burned at the stake.
07:28There's a reveal with this one.
07:30Got it.
07:31This was inspired by Nosferatu.
07:32Oh, there you go.
07:33Yeah.
07:34And this is inspired by 1830s mourning attire.
07:36Mmm.
07:37And I wanted to interpret that story instead of like a girl in love with a vampire, she
07:41becomes a vampire.
07:42So this revealed into like a bloodied corset that was like red crystals dripping down,
07:47made out of the same fabric as this.
07:48This was actually probably one of my favorites that I brought.
07:50I knew it was really out there, but I just think that like I felt really beautiful when I tried this on.
07:55Well, your theater stuff lends you to costumey drag in the best way possible.
08:00It has meaning.
08:01This is like beautifully made, gorgeously constructed.
08:04I loved the idea of mourning.
08:05I loved mourning jewelry.
08:06Yeah.
08:07No, I'm into that.
08:08Yeah.
08:09Mourning rings and locks of hair.
08:10Oh my God.
08:11Yeah.
08:12So my house, I have like taxidermy.
08:14I have like creepy dolls.
08:16I have all sorts of different things.
08:17Goth never leaves the heart.
08:19We'd get along great.
08:20I'll give you a lock of my hair after this.
08:21I love it.
08:22And I love your hair.
08:23It's fantastic.
08:24It's gorgeous.
08:25Tell me about this last one.
08:27Okay.
08:28I wanted to do like a nude look, but almost in like a little bit of a gross way.
08:33And so I thought about doing like a leather tattoo suit situation.
08:37And this was inspired by Gautier and there's actually me on it on the thighs.
08:41Oh my God.
08:42The other one is if I had one season 18, that's me with the sash, but that didn't pan out.
08:48You know, Gautier was one of the first, if not the first that I know of that did all
08:51that kind of tattoo stuff on the mesh.
08:54So I love the pictures of you on it.
08:57One of my favorite parts is the belly button ring.
08:58That says my name.
08:59Says your name.
09:00It says my name.
09:01Let's talk about the outfit that took you down.
09:03I know.
09:04It took me down in many ways.
09:05Yes, it did.
09:06It was pink and yellow and-
09:10Had a harness and a cape and a catsuit.
09:13Could you breathe in it?
09:14Yeah.
09:15The cape was very heavy, I will say.
09:16Yes.
09:17It had all those studs all the way around it.
09:18And you know what?
09:19Looking back at it, I don't think it was bad.
09:21But what I will say, I think I interpreted that challenge a little too literally.
09:24Because I was like, I have to make this look somewhere between these two things.
09:28The mashup.
09:29The mashup aspect of it.
09:30I probably should have done something, maybe a slightly different flavor than that.
09:34I was worried I would get critiqued on like, it doesn't quite look like the inspirations.
09:38It wasn't really meant to, but I thought you did a good job on it.
09:42You're going to do a good job at whatever you do.
09:45You're so sweet.
09:46Because you have a great aesthetic and a great eye for things.
09:49Your little kitty cat.
09:51I love that one.
09:52It's very you.
09:53I grew up of next to nothing.
09:55And even going to drag race, I was doing everything on a dime.
09:59And so I felt very at home with the unconventional materials challenge.
10:03So you just said that you came from nothing.
10:06And you're sitting here in front of me, this beautiful bare-faced child.
10:10These tattoos on your body in a Vivian Westwood shirt.
10:13You have come a long way, baby.
10:16And life is just beginning.
10:19Briar Blush, I can't wait for the world to get their hands on you.
10:21And I can't wait for them to see what you've done.
10:23I'm so glad you're healthy.
10:24I'm glad I'm healthy too.
10:25And you know what world?
10:27I'm coming for you.
10:28And that's a threat.
10:29Yay!
10:30I love it.
10:31And thank you for joining us for another episode of Whatcha Packin'.
10:34We'll see you next time.
10:35Bye!
10:41So that's why every Boston girl that graces the stage of RuPaul's Drag Race has the perfect ass.
10:46I need to get them installed sub-layer.
10:49Exactly!
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