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Short filmTranscript
00:00:19Hi darling, it's me, Mrs. Kasha Davis, oh my god on a wheel, dirty 36, I can't even
00:00:27believe it, you barely look 35. Tony, darling, can you even believe that it's me, Mrs. Kasha Davis,
00:00:33who had the balls to retweet your photo with you and your lovely blouse. Thank you so much for
00:00:39wearing my blouse to the grocery store, to the restroom at TJ Maxx, or wherever you may travel.
00:00:46Happy, happy birthday.
00:00:51Message number two.
00:01:17No, no, no.
00:01:26Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.
00:01:59We got a black background for some of the photo shoots.
00:02:08We got a white background for photo shoots, which we're going to use this weekend.
00:02:19This is our makeshift studio.
00:02:23We've been filming all weekend long for Kasha's audition video for RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:02:32Hello! I'm Kasha Davis.
00:02:35Welcome to Suburbia.
00:02:37Well, hello, my fabulous fans and friends and friends and fans and people who are voting for me,
00:02:42Mrs. Kasha Davis, for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5.
00:02:44Now, remember, you can vote every 24 hours.
00:02:47But before I beg for another vote, I've got to show you a little bit about my frantic, frantic day
00:02:52here in Suburbia.
00:02:53It's very, very difficult.
00:02:55I was out pounding the pavement delivering my Avon orders to those desperate bitches around the cul-de-sac
00:03:01who are trying to look as fabulous as me.
00:03:03Try, try, ladies. I'll keep selling you that ferment cream, but nothing works as well as duct tape.
00:03:09All I know is I'm ready for a cocktail because you know what?
00:03:14There's always time for a cocktail. Cheers, darling!
00:03:17Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.
00:03:21My name is Ed Popel. I'm 47 years old. I live in Rochester, New York. I have a husband of
00:03:2714 years.
00:03:27And I perform as a drag queen named Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:03:35Season one of RuPaul's Drag Race aired in 2009.
00:03:39The whole drag community became excited for this opportunity to be seen on mainstream television.
00:03:44People can see not just a fabulous drag queen, but see the real-life struggles that these people are going
00:03:49through.
00:03:50That's something that I had to be a part of.
00:03:55I auditioned every single season, and Steve and I worked on all of those audition videos.
00:04:06Did you see my audition tape for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3?
00:04:09I've got gobs and gobs of sequins and beads and feathers, and they're just waiting to be on national television!
00:04:17We can't even get on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4!
00:04:21I have so much passion and love for you, RuPaul, so that I can be on your television show.
00:04:27Because, you know, I have nothing else to do except for sit here and talk to my computer.
00:04:32By the way, don't forget to vote for me! Go to Kasha Davis dot com and vote, vote, vote!
00:04:38Oh, we're going to have a good time!
00:04:42Vote for me.
00:04:47I started doing drag in 2004.
00:04:52Yeah!
00:04:55I thought first I would create this character similar to who I was.
00:04:59I was working in a career that I didn't want to be in, and I was longing to do something
00:05:03else.
00:05:08I am going to work. It's time to make the donuts.
00:05:12I was the director of a call center called Dial America.
00:05:15I had been working at this job for 18 years.
00:05:18I never really had that chance to go out and fulfill the creative energies that I had building up inside
00:05:22of me.
00:05:22It was getting to the point where I'd sit at my desk and I'd stare across the room thinking,
00:05:28Oh my gosh, this is it?
00:05:31I am a performer.
00:05:34I need to be on stage.
00:05:36I'm not alive if I'm not creating.
00:05:39The inspiration really came to fruition in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
00:05:45Provincetown is sort of like Oz for gay people.
00:05:49You know, you're going to see drag queens walking down the street and you're going to see families with their
00:05:53children and no one's looking as if it's odd.
00:05:57P-Town is where I first saw Miss Richfield 1981 perform.
00:06:06She would just like fly around the streets on her little, you know, buggy and stuff like that.
00:06:11And we were like, gosh, she's funny.
00:06:13I realized that you could be a drag queen who doesn't just focus on being pretty.
00:06:18You can have comedy and music and that is something that's very entertaining for people.
00:06:24Well, welcome.
00:06:25I'm so excited for our first ever Kasha Davis cooking show.
00:06:31I thought maybe, just maybe, you'd enjoy Kasha's Balls of Love.
00:06:35That's right. It's time for Kasha's Balls.
00:06:39Put them right into the blender or food processor or mixer or whatever you have.
00:06:43And then you take your cream cheese and you put that in there and you're all set.
00:06:47And after you get all those ingredients put in together, you just close it on tight and then you start
00:06:52up the process here with the mixer.
00:06:56And you just, you blend it all up is what you do. You get it all up.
00:06:59The biggest inspiration for me creating Mrs. Kasha Davis is emulating my mom.
00:07:07She was an Italian diva. Strong, stunning, emotional.
00:07:14When I was little, I remember sitting on the side of the tub and watching her, you know, put on
00:07:20her face and that artwork.
00:07:24And over time, performing as Mrs. Kasha Davis became a way to keep her spirit alive.
00:07:32I like to get gas on a Sunday because it's a good day to wear a gown and wave at
00:07:38a neighbor.
00:07:38Hi, darling. Hi, darling. I love your blouse.
00:07:42And, you know, Sunday's a good day to get all of your chores done.
00:07:47I like to try to get to Wegmans, the grocery store.
00:07:51I like to try to get to the liquor store.
00:07:54You know, milk, bread, vodka.
00:07:57I just gravitated to my mom.
00:08:04When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s in Scranton, Pennsylvania, there were no gay people that I
00:08:11knew of.
00:08:12I was the light in the loafers.
00:08:15I gravitated to dolls and I wanted to play theater and dress up and I was a little sassy.
00:08:20And so I was, there were lessons about speaking lower and acting more like a man.
00:08:26I got myself involved in theater and I found my tribe.
00:08:30So it was a place where I just found so much passion and joy.
00:08:35For me, it was clear I was going to be an entertainer.
00:08:38Some way, somehow.
00:08:40But every time I brought it up to my family, it was discouraged.
00:08:42It wasn't realistic. You can't, can't, can't.
00:08:48I was always trying to be what my dad wanted.
00:08:52So I ran away from theater and then I made the decision to marry the first girl that would say
00:08:56yes.
00:08:58And I cried the entire day at the wedding.
00:09:01And I kept telling everyone it was because I was so much in love.
00:09:04But I knew that it was the final straw that you cannot be yourself.
00:09:29When I did come out to my parents, at that point I was in the process of divorce.
00:09:36Mom, of course, was dramatic and cried.
00:09:39And Dad just spit in my face and told me to get out.
00:09:43And I did.
00:09:46Because it was time for me to be myself.
00:10:03I moved to Rochester and that's when my life started.
00:10:06And I'm very excited because I'm doing a show at Rain Lounge for the Christmas holiday.
00:10:11Darien Lake Season 6 Superstar in RuPaul's Drag Race is going to be there.
00:10:16And my fabulous gal pal, Aggie Dune.
00:10:19See you in a bit.
00:10:20Well, here we are at Rain Lounge and, you know, just a subtle poster for Darien Lake.
00:10:25You know, it's the size of a building.
00:10:27Mrs. Kasha Davis came to the scene probably like, was it like right around the turn of the century?
00:10:32She was sort of a fan, newly out of the closet.
00:10:35So everything was a complete candy land.
00:10:38We just had a great time.
00:10:41Mrs. Kasha Davis, she is a married lady.
00:10:45She is a housewife.
00:10:46She likes lime jello and marshmallows.
00:10:48She is a little crazy.
00:10:51I love that he had an idea of who Mrs. Kasha Davis was from the very first time he was
00:10:56on stage.
00:10:57She is a true foundation of Rochester now.
00:11:01And by that I mean foundation.
00:11:03She's a brick.
00:11:05I think the first time that I met you two I was backstage at Mother's and getting ready in the
00:11:09mirror.
00:11:09And they turned to me and said, don't be afraid to try.
00:11:13Just try, Kasha.
00:11:19Rochester is a small enough town where people really know each other.
00:11:23When I moved there, I was like, what?
00:11:26Gay acceptance.
00:11:27Gay pride.
00:11:28I saw rainbow flags.
00:11:29I didn't know what they were.
00:11:30I started going out to the gay clubs and I went to a place called Mother's and I saw all
00:11:34of these amazing performers.
00:11:36There was Darien Lake, Pandora Box, Ambrosia Salad, Aggie Dune, and then when I mentioned to Ambrosia Salad that I
00:11:46wanted to do drag, the whole group really encouraged me and helped me to develop Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:11:52Really, it was a family.
00:11:55My drag persona name is Ambrosia Salad and I've been doing drag here for, I think maybe 25 years, around
00:12:04there.
00:12:05My God, that's a quarter of a century.
00:12:13You know, I'm six foot three, size 12 foot. I just was like, where do I get stuff?
00:12:19There was a store here in Rochester called La Belle Grande and that was the only place you could go
00:12:24to get the larger size shoe.
00:12:26And I thought that was the funniest name in the world, the big woman.
00:12:31And you paid a lot of money for crappy shoes.
00:12:34Aggie Dune has been around for about 35 years. She's the grand dame of Rochester.
00:12:38So she's kind of like the head supreme where all the other ones were kind of, they sprouted off of
00:12:43like gremlins when they threw a drink on her after midnight.
00:12:46Kind of like Kasha Davis, Darien Lake, and Pandora Box.
00:12:49Good evening, Chicago stud puppets.
00:12:53I'm your giver goddess from the Empire State. I'm the reigning Miss Continental New York State.
00:13:05The Rochester drag community has always been really fantastic, even 30 years ago when I started.
00:13:12When you talk to other big queens that travel the country all the time, they come here, they're always like,
00:13:16you guys have some seriously good drag here.
00:13:19What's in the water? I'm like, mostly chemicals from Kodak.
00:13:22But, you know, we live a technicolor life and that really helps us out here.
00:13:27Through the years, we've had great bar owners who will stay up till 4 a.m. smoking cigarettes in their
00:13:32trailer, sewing your dress.
00:13:34The winters are really fucking long in upstate New York.
00:13:37And so you're like trapped inside your house and you have cabin fever and you're like, what can I do
00:13:41today that's creative?
00:13:43You know, something.
00:13:45Doing drag with these queens on nights and weekends completely changed my life.
00:13:51And it was the first time when I was 100% me.
00:13:59And look at that, push a button.
00:14:05It's like a transformer. Drag queen in disguise.
00:14:08This is my best friend and fabulous entertainer, Miss Aggie Dune, Tom Smalley.
00:14:14Well, hello, hello.
00:14:14Hello.
00:14:15And my God, I've been doing drag.
00:14:18And as long as I've known you, probably met you one like second or third time I did drag.
00:14:23So that's at this point, I figured it out.
00:14:26It is 13 years.
00:14:28Oh, my God.
00:14:30How long have you been married to your wife?
00:14:33From 93 to 98.
00:14:36So our relationship has lasted longer.
00:14:39It's lasted longer.
00:14:41Hello.
00:14:42I'm back from the dead.
00:14:45For a moment.
00:14:47Well, here we are on our way to this benefit whereupon we're going to be modeling and being around for
00:14:55pictures and all that jazz.
00:14:57And it was so early on, like, for me with like, because all I knew was theater and I really
00:15:02hadn't done much drag.
00:15:03And so I thought, what's the script?
00:15:05And Aggie was like, no, there's no script.
00:15:07So you really taught me like a crash course in developing Mrs. Kasha Davis, as well as us developing what
00:15:14we originally thought was like Lucy Ethel.
00:15:16Lucy.
00:15:16Yeah.
00:15:17Impersonation.
00:15:18Sonny Cher.
00:15:19Yeah.
00:15:19It was a matter of elevating drag from a place of, you know, just the hole in the wall bar
00:15:27scene.
00:15:28And we were able to take it into party houses.
00:15:31Yeah.
00:15:32We elevated out of the bar into the golden ponds.
00:15:35Into the golden ponds.
00:15:37The Italian buffet.
00:15:39Yeah.
00:15:40You know, high class.
00:15:41In a strip mall in the suburbs.
00:15:43Right.
00:15:44Right out the open.
00:15:45We have made it.
00:16:00We're actually Betty and Wilma from The Flintstones.
00:16:05And...
00:16:05Wilma's building the Yama Yama Dama Dome collection.
00:16:07Exactly.
00:16:08So when I started out performing and doing drag, we didn't have the internet to reference
00:16:13or learn how to do makeup.
00:16:14Or I could just go and click to go to dragqueensgalore.com and buy everything in one shopping cart.
00:16:19You had to go out and find everything yourself.
00:16:22I remember the day you had to find out where to buy boobs.
00:16:25You had to build your own things and figure out all of it.
00:16:27Which was, for me, the fun part of it.
00:16:30And now it's just...
00:16:32Just click a button and there it is.
00:16:34Instant drag queen.
00:16:35Just add vodka.
00:16:37These are some of the impersonation wigs that I use a lot.
00:16:41So...
00:16:41Well, let's see.
00:16:42Who do we have in here?
00:16:43Oh, this one.
00:16:44She's always a favorite.
00:16:46Don't fall.
00:16:48So she's always a favorite.
00:16:51It's...
00:16:51Betty Davis.
00:16:53Because everyone loves a nice, sensible, short wig.
00:16:57So, we like Betty Davis.
00:16:59We have Liza, Celine, Peggy Lee, Baby Jane.
00:17:04Everyone loves her.
00:17:05Elsa.
00:17:05For the kids.
00:17:08Barbara Tina.
00:17:09Reba.
00:17:11Share, share, share, share, share.
00:17:13Because she makes the most money.
00:17:15Now, I will give you a lesson for Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:17:18The best thing that you can do when picking a fella is to make sure that he has a penis,
00:17:23a pulse, and good credit.
00:17:25Yes.
00:17:27Welcome to Mr. Davis in the corner.
00:17:29Yeah.
00:17:30Yeah.
00:17:31He...
00:17:31It was a check mark on all three, and I said, let's get married.
00:17:36I'm Steven Levins, and I'm 54 years old.
00:17:39Ed and I have been together for 14 years.
00:17:42When we got legally married, that just automatically made me Mr. Davis.
00:17:52I think one of the most important things is to help your partner in their endeavors.
00:17:58I mean, right from the beginning, we made the decision, if he was going to do drag, that I was
00:18:03going to support him in any way I can.
00:18:06I often help out Mrs. Kasha Davis by filming and running the lights and sound.
00:18:13Behind the scenes stuff that Kasha cares nothing about.
00:18:17Oh, you're cute.
00:18:19I like being on the other side of the camera.
00:18:21I know, but you're really cute on this side of the camera.
00:18:25There would be no Mrs. Davis without Mr. Davis.
00:18:28We are a team in every way, shape, and form.
00:18:32In the process of Kasha Davis becoming who she is today, we thought, hey, let's start doing some YouTube videos.
00:18:48Making sure it's the good stuff.
00:18:50It is the good stuff.
00:18:51What do you have, darling?
00:18:54Oh, I don't drink the good stuff.
00:18:55You drink the black velvet?
00:18:56Oh, my God, you're...
00:18:58That's fabulous.
00:18:59Why is that fabulous?
00:19:00Because look at you.
00:19:02I don't drink that much.
00:19:04It's just I have it in the house.
00:19:06That's the way I think of it.
00:19:08Where are you going now?
00:19:10Oh, Wegmans.
00:19:12Just to the grocery store.
00:19:13Don't put me on that.
00:19:15God, what's this all about?
00:19:22What are you doing?
00:19:23I'm leading and in case of snakes, I have my protective gear on.
00:19:27What kind of socks are those?
00:19:29Beige.
00:19:32Do snakes hate beige?
00:19:34They hate beige.
00:19:35Snakes are like, mmm, beige.
00:19:37And they go...
00:19:38So we have had two weddings.
00:19:41One was just, you know, because we thought that Jesus and the rest of all of the Holy Spirits would
00:19:45just bless us because the government wouldn't.
00:19:47The fake one.
00:19:48But it was the real one.
00:19:50It was real.
00:19:50Well, that's the one we can help.
00:19:51Yeah.
00:19:52And then we had another one that we can put on paper.
00:19:54Yeah.
00:19:54We followed up with the paperwork six years later.
00:19:57Yeah.
00:19:57And that was four years ago.
00:19:59Four years.
00:20:01Married bliss.
00:20:01And I say, when people ask me, how do you keep the marriage alive?
00:20:04And I answer, quite frankly, blowjobs.
00:20:08And I'm also very proud of the fact that I'm married.
00:20:10And back when Mrs. Kasha Davis was created, gay marriage wasn't legal.
00:20:19And so we were talking about something that was taboo.
00:20:26A lot of people say, you two love each other so much.
00:20:29And we talk about it in the videos and everything else.
00:20:31But the things that I think is important is that we have a very similar situation.
00:20:37We were both married to women.
00:20:40For me, after I came out, really difficult because a lot of people didn't want to date someone with kids.
00:20:47It was so funny because I was like crying, crying.
00:20:52I'm never going to have children.
00:20:54It's never going to happen.
00:20:55This is why, you know, I don't want to be gay because I want to have a family.
00:20:59It was really cool because he not only accepted the kids, he really wanted to meet them and wanted to
00:21:05have a relationship with them.
00:21:08Early on, I remember thinking to myself, wow, if I ever had kids, they would be just like Melissa and
00:21:15Jessica.
00:21:15And then I was like, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
00:21:18I was like, I do have kids and they are Melissa and Jessica.
00:21:21And so it was perfect.
00:21:27We're rushing after work to go to Darien Lake's viewing party at the forum, the bachelor forum here in Rochester,
00:21:34New York.
00:21:35RuPaul's Drag Race season six.
00:21:37Hopefully they'll do the same for me for season seven when I'm cast.
00:21:40I'm Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:21:42That's right.
00:21:42Mrs.
00:21:43Oh, and I am so proud to be auditioning for season seven of RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:21:50Oh, I've been here a couple of times.
00:21:51You know that, Ru.
00:21:52But this is it.
00:21:54I am America's Next Drag Superstar.
00:21:57And you know why?
00:21:58Because you've seen me for seven years in a row.
00:22:01And I know you know me.
00:22:03I know it in my heart.
00:22:04I know you watch the videos.
00:22:05I know that you do take a look at all of us gals out there.
00:22:08And I want to represent what you've built for us.
00:22:11I am so proud of what you have done for our community.
00:22:14And I would love to be a part of it.
00:22:17And I would love to lead it with those winning queens, as a matter of fact.
00:22:21Well, get Antoine.
00:22:23What?
00:22:23You've got a chance because you've been officially selected for season seven of Drag Race.
00:22:27Oh, my God!
00:22:29I am!
00:22:30Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
00:22:32Holy shitballs!
00:22:34Jesus Christ!
00:22:35You put me through the frickin' rigor!
00:22:38I have this towel here to dry myself off!
00:22:42I think I peed a little.
00:22:44I mean, you know, a woman of my age, I've gotta have poise.
00:22:48I've got, where it depends now, you mean me?
00:22:51Hey, everybody.
00:22:52It's been about three weeks since we got the call.
00:22:54And it is 5.30 in the morning on July 12th.
00:23:00Oh, I can't take it.
00:23:02Ugh!
00:23:03Ugh!
00:23:03Don't look.
00:23:04Just squish.
00:23:06I could basically projectile vomit right now, but I won't do that because it's television or YouTube.
00:23:13We don't do that.
00:23:15That would be disgusting.
00:23:17Disgusting.
00:23:18But you're flying to New York?
00:23:20New York and then LA.
00:23:22And I can't believe it.
00:23:24I'm so grateful and honored.
00:23:26And I can't wait to...
00:23:27I'm gonna do my best.
00:23:28Whatever that is.
00:23:30It was an absolute dream come true.
00:23:33And, of course, I didn't want to fuck it up.
00:23:36Hiya, my honeys!
00:23:37I'm home!
00:23:41Are there any other queens here?
00:23:43Oh, just me, I guess.
00:23:45My name is Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:23:48And I'm an international celebrity housewife because of that one time I performed in Canada.
00:23:53Being on a reality show, it just, it changes your life.
00:23:57You are under a microscope.
00:24:01The entire time that I was there, you are locked in a hotel room where they duct tape the door
00:24:09closed.
00:24:09You have no telephone.
00:24:11You're working 12, 15 hours and the only people you can talk to in the world is this little group.
00:24:17You'd look up and there's the Hollywood sign.
00:24:19And you felt like this is gonna be a whole new adventure, a whole new life.
00:24:24Hi, everybody.
00:24:25I'm here to tell you to put up your tray tables.
00:24:35Put up your tray, put up your tray tables.
00:24:42Put up your, put up your, put up your, put up your tray.
00:24:47Please, put it up now.
00:24:49Put up yours.
00:24:53Wasn't she just great, ladies and gentlemen?
00:24:55When I got cast on RuPaul's Drag Race, I was grateful and excited, but it's a competition.
00:25:01And they were kind of cutthroat, you know, as queens can be.
00:25:04And I'm used to a family atmosphere where we support one another.
00:25:08Next up, Pearl and last.
00:25:10And last, but certainly not youngest, Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:25:16Did you hear that, dear?
00:25:21I get frustrated with our community saying, you're too old, roll over and die.
00:25:27And everybody should be young and thin.
00:25:29Why?
00:25:30Honey, when they put up, I know it was a lot of buffoonery because-
00:25:34They all look alike.
00:25:35They all the same height.
00:25:36They all weigh two pounds.
00:25:37This may sound like old lady bullshit or whatever, but after trying for this for seven years and somebody's like,
00:25:41ugh, fuck this, that pisses me off.
00:25:43Yeah.
00:25:44You know, it's like sometimes you have that pop of attitude.
00:25:47Interesting, you know that.
00:25:49The first thing, which is the first thing you said to me when we stood at the table when we
00:25:51first walked in the workroom?
00:25:52Think about your man arms.
00:25:53Yeah, man arms and then we'll see if you have any talent.
00:25:57I was so anxious.
00:25:59You know, it was the sole thing I wanted in my life.
00:26:05And now, our hostesses with the mostesses, Mrs. Kasha Davis and Katya.
00:26:14Oh my goodness, everyone.
00:26:16We want to welcome you to the first annual Despi Awards.
00:26:21That's a hard job opening the show.
00:26:23That's tough, you know, to be overshadowed by the people following you.
00:26:27Here's someone who really has the chops and didn't bring it tonight.
00:26:31I find that very frustrating.
00:26:32This is like a workhorse queen, you know, and a workhorse queen has to make us laugh the minute we
00:26:38see her.
00:26:39It didn't happen tonight.
00:26:40Ladies, I've made my decision.
00:26:46Mrs. Kasha Davis, your big opening was a little sloppy.
00:26:53Call Mr. Davis and tell him Mama's coming home.
00:26:59Sashay away.
00:27:02Love you, gals.
00:27:04Love you.
00:27:07There's always time for a cocktail.
00:27:27I was really, really disappointed.
00:27:31I knew I wasn't competing up to my personal expectations and to what other people expected of me.
00:27:37I felt like I was disappointing my husband and my kids.
00:27:41They had these ideas of me winning.
00:27:45I got a phone call in the middle of the day and it was Ed and I was disappointed for
00:27:52him because I knew he wanted to do well.
00:27:55And I know that it was his passion.
00:27:59I was the fifth queen sent home on season seven of RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:28:04It was hard to go home and face everyone.
00:28:08It was hard to face myself.
00:28:11My name is Mrs. Kasha Davis, international celebrity housewife because of that one gig in Montreal.
00:28:20Now, I don't know if any of you ever have watched the reality television show RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:28:27And if you watched season seven, you might remember me from the opening credits.
00:28:34In other words, I did shitty.
00:28:44I have these shoes and I don't know what to wear with them tonight.
00:28:48I think something with gold.
00:28:49Talk about shoes in a pile.
00:28:51It's like your shoe cupboard threw up.
00:28:55I get told that I'm that I'm basic a lot.
00:28:58And there's a degree of that that I own.
00:29:00And sometimes it is an insecurity on my age.
00:29:03I mean, look at this forehead, right?
00:29:07Well, hello, it's Mrs. Kasha Davis. How are you?
00:29:10I'm good. How are you?
00:29:11I'm good. Who's calling?
00:29:15Hi.
00:29:18I'm doing fine.
00:29:20I can't believe how goofy am I that I decided to put my phone number accidentally on Twitter.
00:29:27And I tweeted my phone number to get in contact about a performance.
00:29:30And when it said reply, I did tweet because I don't understand technology.
00:29:35So I wasn't realizing what I was doing.
00:29:36I tweeted the number and then got all these phone calls.
00:29:39Hi there, darling. It's Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:29:42Hi, Kasha.
00:29:44Hi.
00:29:47Oh, my gosh. What's your name?
00:29:50I realized this is my opportunity because even if I got kicked off early,
00:29:57believe it or not, RuPaul's Drag Race girls are considered celebrities.
00:30:02Season seven of RuPaul's Drag Race aired in 2015.
00:30:08TV definitely changed the game.
00:30:10I never thought I would do the show.
00:30:12I never thought I'd be interested in it.
00:30:13I never thought drag would be a career.
00:30:15I just didn't.
00:30:16But I'm extremely grateful for what it's opened up and what I've been able to get to do.
00:30:21You hear a lot of people say, oh, they're an Instagram queen.
00:30:24They're a YouTube queen.
00:30:25They're tutorials.
00:30:26They had this. They had that.
00:30:27Great.
00:30:28That's what we're working towards so that they can have that freedom.
00:30:33RuPaul's Drag Race allowed people to see that they're a part of something.
00:30:40And I know that's what Ru really wants.
00:30:44With every season, I feel like there's more and more variety of new types of queens.
00:30:49You know, you can do whatever you want to.
00:30:51RuPaul's Drag Race has this wonderful platform where we bring these people in,
00:30:55but there aren't that many spots in the show.
00:30:56And there are a bazillion more talented queens who have not been cast yet.
00:31:07This next male and the fabulous Wednesday Westwood need your positive energy
00:31:11because they are auditioning for RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:31:15She's my sister, the girl pal, and younger lover, Miss Evie Toon!
00:31:36I want to be on Drag Race to have that recognition, to say to all the people who supported me
00:31:43for the last 35 years that say, you should really be on there.
00:31:46I just kind of want to do it for them as much as for myself.
00:31:52Now with Drag Race, the crowd doesn't want to come out unless there's a celebrity there
00:31:59so they can take a selfie and post it on their Instagram.
00:32:03It's always fun. It's like, we're going to do a meet and greet. Great.
00:32:06No one's here to stand next to me.
00:32:11So many of the people here in town, they've made it onto the show that I've mentored and helped
00:32:15and been a part of their drag growth in their career, have gotten onto the show, and I'm so excited
00:32:20for them.
00:32:23I know how much I want it, so I know how much it means to them to get on there,
00:32:27and I am truly excited for them.
00:32:28It kills me that I have not gotten on there.
00:32:33I'm sorry. I can't go on with the scene. I'm too happy.
00:32:37Mr. RuPaul, do you mind if I say a few words? Thank you.
00:32:42I just want to tell you all how happy I am to be back in the studio making an audition
00:32:46tape again.
00:32:47You don't know how much I've missed all of you.
00:32:50And I promise you I'll never desert you again.
00:32:53Because after season 10, I'll make another audition tape and another audition tape.
00:32:58You see, this is my life.
00:33:02It always will be.
00:33:05There's nothing else.
00:33:08Just us.
00:33:10It changes your friend's structure of what you have because you can't share something that they're doing.
00:33:19So they're hesitant to talk about their success and some of the things they're having because they know how much
00:33:23you're not part of it,
00:33:25which makes it more difficult to continue to have that close friendship because there's now things that you can't talk
00:33:31about.
00:33:31So I just kind of want to get on mainly so I can get all my friends back to the
00:33:37way that things were before Drag Race shifted the entire drag world.
00:33:43Are you frustrated at trolling the internet looking at drag queen's social media pages just to find the same old
00:33:49posts over and over again?
00:33:50How boring.
00:33:53Are you overwhelmed at all the audition tapes just to see the same old death drops again and again?
00:33:59Oh, yikes!
00:34:02I'd say one of the biggest hardships that I've had doing drag is then, well, auditioning for RuPaul's Drag Race
00:34:08for eight seasons in a row.
00:34:15So when you first come off Drag Race, it was busy, busy, busy.
00:34:18There were tours lined up, promotional things.
00:34:23I'm going to go on tour this week.
00:34:24It's going to be fabulous.
00:34:25Oh, it's going to be a crazy week.
00:34:26I know.
00:34:26Ross goes in Chicago with an entire cast of season seven.
00:34:30So I always wanted to be a full time performer.
00:34:32And finally, I have this once in a lifetime opportunity.
00:34:35But, you know, financially, how am I going to support my family?
00:34:39It's important for Steven and I to continue to maintain our home.
00:34:46Looking at the gay world, we didn't necessarily fit in.
00:34:49It was always a dream of ours to have the home, the pool, the kids.
00:34:55You have girl-sized feet.
00:34:56What size shoe do you wear?
00:34:57Correct.
00:34:59Correct.
00:35:01I can't get this.
00:35:04It's so hard to have been a diet cook.
00:35:07I could possibly.
00:35:09Oh.
00:35:10It's so hard to live in the suburbs.
00:35:14The pool with a house and children.
00:35:17And the money in a convertible.
00:35:20Oh, and somebody open my soda for me.
00:35:23Please.
00:35:23Somebody open my drive.
00:35:24Oh, I could possibly.
00:35:29You see, this is my friend.
00:35:32We really needed to make a decision.
00:35:34Was he going to stay with his job?
00:35:35Or was he going to jump in full force and try to make a career?
00:35:40We both agreed that we were going to give it at least a year.
00:35:44And if things weren't working out, then he would not do it full time anymore.
00:35:48At that time, I was 44 years old and I realized I can do this and I'm going to go
00:35:53for it.
00:35:57I'm going to go for it.
00:36:02This was just the beginning of a whole new career phase.
00:36:07On my post-season tour, we traveled to New York City.
00:36:10We were in LA.
00:36:11We were in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Miami.
00:36:15I was so busy.
00:36:16I was able to tour and meet so many different fans of the show.
00:36:19It was amazing.
00:36:21I could not believe these people that were so obsessed with the Queens.
00:36:26I could not get over this.
00:36:30When my season first aired, every time I would get on an airplane, people were like,
00:36:34there's always time for a cocktail.
00:36:35And they would hand me bottles of booze.
00:36:37I was like, wow, this is fantastic.
00:36:41After the excitement of that tour ended, the booking slowed down and then it kind of trickled.
00:36:46And then there was some interest and then it died.
00:36:50As time went on, I started to see my calendar looking blank.
00:36:55And I'm looking at my husband wondering what I've done with my contribution to our relationship by leaving my full
00:37:01-time job for this.
00:37:01One of the hardest parts of being a drag husband is when your drag wife comes home from a gig.
00:37:09And maybe one that she was really excited about and it wasn't well attended or a number didn't go over
00:37:16as well as she thought.
00:37:19Say good night, Gracie.
00:37:21Good night, Gracie.
00:37:24I identified with my nine to five job.
00:37:27During that period of time, I was productive and I could abstain from alcohol.
00:37:31I knew that I was good at lifting people up and managing people.
00:37:35And then I was literally a housewife.
00:37:41I was at home all day and I would look at all the other queens from my season who were
00:37:44getting tours and shows and opportunities.
00:37:48My insecurities took over and it really began to get out of control.
00:37:52Well, I'm so very, very proud to say that just a couple of you were requesting another video.
00:37:58And I thought, well, I have a moment and a couple of things to share.
00:38:01I thought, why not sit down on April 20th and have a glass of wine with my friends on the
00:38:08WWW.
00:38:12I love a good box wine.
00:38:14I mean, it's good for a bargain and you can take it with you everywhere.
00:38:17They go in totes and everything.
00:38:19Well, everybody likes the cocktail.
00:38:21There's always time for a cocktail.
00:38:24There's always time for a cocktail.
00:38:29We used to have an expression about Kasha Davis when the Tangeray turns.
00:38:33It was sort of like she was spotted and having a great time and that tipping point of the drum
00:38:37and it's the Tangeray turns.
00:38:40And then she would just get nasty.
00:38:43Really mean.
00:38:44And we're like, OK, time to call it a night.
00:38:48You know, we'll see you later. Bye.
00:38:51When you're that thick into your addiction, you're either drinking, you're thinking about the next time you're going to drink
00:38:58or you're hung over.
00:39:00You gravitate to the liquor store.
00:39:02You gravitate to the box of wine.
00:39:04And then if you're a comedian like me, you kind of make fun of it.
00:39:08When you walk into a club and go to perform, you think that everybody's as drunk as you.
00:39:12And now I realize, really, nobody was that drunk.
00:39:15On the fifth day of Christmas, my little bitch and me.
00:39:20Five shots of Tangeray.
00:39:23Four vodka tonics, three Tom Collins.
00:39:27Two guys, he falls in his stupid tree and some hurt.
00:39:32And it was after five, six, seven days of traveling all different places, New York City, Philadelphia, back to Rochester.
00:39:39And I was driving and I was drinking.
00:39:42And it was a really bad weekend of excess.
00:39:49His drinking had started to escalate.
00:39:53He was in Scranton to do a show.
00:39:55And we agreed that he would sleep overnight and then come home in the morning for a gig.
00:40:01That morning, I could tell that he had been drinking before I even saw him.
00:40:08Thirty minutes later, I got a text that he was arrested.
00:40:13When I came to the next day, Steve said to me,
00:40:17You know that it was reported that you were swerving from children.
00:40:23We just had a big blowout.
00:40:25I told him I couldn't do it anymore. I was done.
00:40:27And at that point, I was ready to end the relationship because I couldn't take the drinking anymore.
00:40:58That's when I realized I'm an alcoholic and I may have to lose everything.
00:41:04I may have to lose everything.
00:41:05My husband, my children, my career.
00:41:09But I wasn't going to lose myself.
00:41:11I was going to stop.
00:41:21I enlisted in outpatient rehab and that was the foundation for a lifetime of recovery.
00:41:31He just took complete responsibility and started going to AA and that really, I think, I credit that moment to
00:41:39saving our marriage.
00:41:40And actually, it's become so much better because he's now sober and fully present in the marriage.
00:41:57I'm grateful to be alive and I would not be able to do any of this without my husband.
00:42:02I'm going to be born into soon the sky.
00:42:16With the love and support of Steve, I was able to continue working as Mrs. Kasha Davis, going to rehab
00:42:21and really addressing this problem head on, one day at a time.
00:42:25And again, we want you to have those cocktails.
00:42:29I have a phrase called, there's always time for a cocktail.
00:42:32My mother used to say that every morning, noon and night.
00:42:34God rest her Michael chugging soul.
00:42:38At any rate, I digest.
00:42:44No, I'm almost three years sober now, kids.
00:42:47Can you believe that, Chad?
00:42:49Yeah, thank you so much.
00:42:50Through the process of rehabilitation.
00:42:53One of the things that did, you know, pop up in my mind is, who is Mrs. Kasha Davis if
00:42:59she doesn't have a glass of wine in her hand?
00:43:01How is she going to go on by saying, there's always time for a cocktail?
00:43:03Do I have to change it to, there's always time for a mocktail?
00:43:06Can I get that level of excitement on stage?
00:43:10No, but I, at my phrase, there's always time for a cocktail.
00:43:13I'm sober.
00:43:14What had happened was, is that I was drinking so much, I realized I was allergic to alcohol.
00:43:19Because every time I drank, I broke out in hand gums.
00:43:22So, it's much safer for the community at large, small and medium.
00:43:30I started to look at how I could potentially begin to repair the relationship with my family.
00:43:37I was somebody who took a look in the mirror in the early 40s and said, I'm not done.
00:43:43I can't be done.
00:43:45And I began to put together a one-woman show.
00:43:50Hey everybody, we are here at the JCC for cocktail.
00:43:54Well...
00:43:56I don't want to take another photo.
00:44:01Grandma was a Vaudeville star in her day.
00:44:05A whistler!
00:44:06And boy, could she blow!
00:44:13I guess I'm a lot like her.
00:44:18Through my one-woman show, There's Always Time for a Cocktail, I wanted to share the story of my life.
00:44:24It's my coming out story.
00:44:25I talk about my battle with addiction.
00:44:29I talk about the battle with my father.
00:44:32I talk about my marriage to my ex-wife.
00:44:35And, of course, the joy of my husband and Mr. Davis and the children.
00:44:40Mom's my foster queen.
00:44:43She always smelled like coffee.
00:44:45Avon perfume.
00:44:47Cigarette smoke.
00:44:49An operant.
00:44:51Basically, she smelled blam.
00:44:56When Dad would come home from work and dinner would be ready on the table.
00:45:00She'd yell,
00:45:01Eddie!
00:45:02Hurry up! Hurry up!
00:45:03Help me at the table!
00:45:04Your father's gonna kill me if dinner's not ready!
00:45:06And then, Dad would barge in.
00:45:08Ellen!
00:45:09Why isn't dinner ready when I come home from work?
00:45:12Your wife!
00:45:13He gets so angry sometimes, he can kick him to the side of the television.
00:45:17As a child, I remember always feeling like I had to protect my mother.
00:45:22And so, I would take a large brunt of my Dad's physical anger because I challenged him.
00:45:30My Dad was a retired U.S. Marshal.
00:45:34And he tried everything to make sure that I was the man that he wanted to share his name
00:45:41versus the boy that I was.
00:45:45And to the point where he would try to beat the girl out of me.
00:45:48Oh!
00:45:50He would say,
00:45:51Eddie!
00:45:52Boys don't like dancing or dolls.
00:45:54They like sports.
00:45:56Eddie!
00:45:57Let's go outside and play catch ball.
00:45:59I'm kind of excited because, you know, I thought this was a little bonding time and I do love balls.
00:46:06And outside.
00:46:08Eddie, stand over there and put your arms at your side.
00:46:13And I'm going to hit you with this ball.
00:46:16Over and over again.
00:46:18So you know what it feels like to get hit with it.
00:46:20Maybe then you won't be so afraid of it.
00:46:22I was definitely a mama's boy.
00:46:26And as mom grew older, we grew apart because I was coming out as gay.
00:46:32And it broke my heart because we had many years of separation.
00:46:36And then she got sick and she suffered from an addiction to pain meds.
00:46:43The damage from the fire burned off all of her hair.
00:46:49And she didn't even have but one eyelash.
00:46:52And the long story short, she was smoking while she was on her oxygen tank and caught herself, her face
00:47:00on fire.
00:47:02And she was airlifted to a hospital and I just remember walking in and the queen that I knew and
00:47:12loved was completely unrecognizable.
00:47:14Her hair was burnt off.
00:47:15Her face was essentially melted.
00:47:17And she turned to me and I was holding her hand and she just said, you know, what did I
00:47:24do with my life?
00:47:27Well, unfortunately, my mom passed away due to complications of the same disease that I have, her addiction.
00:47:38After that, dad and I started to somehow seem to have a relationship.
00:47:44He began to change.
00:47:46He realized how precious life was and it was time for us to find ways to mend both sides of
00:47:52the street.
00:47:54Well, RuPaul's Drag Race happened.
00:47:56And, you know, you get all kinds of fancy gigs, right?
00:47:59I got offered a gig in Scrant, Pennsylvania at a Toyota dealership.
00:48:06Wow!
00:48:07I visited dad. How's it going? Good. How are you?
00:48:10He never saw me in drag. He never talked about it.
00:48:16I see your picture on paper. You got a show tonight?
00:48:19Yeah.
00:48:20Six o'clock?
00:48:21Mm-hmm.
00:48:22I'm coming.
00:48:23Shit my pants!
00:48:2647 years old and I'm still like...
00:48:30Ah, you know, dad, I'm in drag.
00:48:33Yeah, I know. I saw the newspaper.
00:48:36But dad came backstage, also known as the sales department.
00:48:44He turned the corner and he just gasped and said,
00:48:49Hey.
00:48:50Wow.
00:48:52You're beautiful.
00:48:55Words I never expected to hear from a man that said I was too much like a girl.
00:49:10As I've gotten older and gone through my recovery process, there's a level of forgiveness there that I have to,
00:49:18no, that I've chosen to give him.
00:49:25As I performed There's Always Time for a Cocktail, I started on the journey of really accepting and loving my
00:49:31most genuine self.
00:49:34It can be very easy for me to get disappointed and to slip back into comparing, scrolling, and looking at
00:49:42what other people are doing.
00:49:45The artist who feels as though they can sit back and wait for stuff to come will lose. I don't
00:49:50care how popular you are.
00:49:52Your fire will go out and you have to go back at it.
00:49:56As I'm working on my one-woman play There's Always Time for a Cocktail, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2
00:50:01airs.
00:50:03Drag Race All Stars returns and Thursday, queens are wild.
00:50:07Hi.
00:50:07Watch out, girls. This bitch is back.
00:50:10Essentially, all the queens that were cast on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2 began to gain more popularity and
00:50:17more followers.
00:50:18I felt like it was necessary for me to get cast on All Stars to compete and build upon what
00:50:25I had started.
00:50:26It is something that, frankly, I'm chomping at the bit to be a part of.
00:50:32Hi, Syracuse!
00:50:35We're here for one reason, really, aren't we?
00:50:38Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here she is, the fabulous and fantastic, gorgeous and beautiful.
00:50:44Please, give her a warm Syracuse welcome, Ms. Tatiana!
00:51:03My name is Tatiana and I was on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 and then again on All Stars Season
00:51:122.
00:51:12The last year has been crazy. I've been to so many different countries.
00:51:18Like, have you ever seen that Lady Gaga?
00:51:20It's like, club! Another club! Bus!
00:51:23It could be that.
00:51:24So, it's been, it's taken me a little bit of time to get used to it.
00:51:28Just because from Season 2, it was not like that.
00:51:33But, I like it. And I also feel like a fun pop star.
00:51:37I'm just like, I'm just living my life touring.
00:51:43Since I didn't do well on my season, and I haven't been cast on All Stars, I decided to do
00:51:48whatever I could to attract the producers' attention.
00:51:52I have to work that much harder on social media in order to get the attention to get gigs.
00:51:57Social media has changed drag so much.
00:52:00At this point, the fans have expectations for the queens that have been on the show.
00:52:04The pressure's on!
00:52:06Batchwork designs!
00:52:07Davey has come through with some dresses for this weekend's show!
00:52:14Mr. Davis looks on with...
00:52:18So, at the end of the show, we're all wearing green.
00:52:21And so this is my gown.
00:52:24Fabulousness, right?
00:52:27Look at that!
00:52:30Very greasious, right?
00:52:33And then...
00:52:35Max, one more.
00:52:37And we have a housewife dress.
00:52:39I'm excited about.
00:52:41Looks like a tablecloth, but I love it.
00:52:44Look at Max!
00:52:45It's a housewife dress!
00:52:47He's saying, not another housewife dress.
00:52:50In this day and age, something that you wear on social media is done.
00:52:56It's time to constantly be updating your looks and finding new things.
00:53:00So, it's a challenge.
00:53:02How's everybody tonight?
00:53:06Look at you looking all fierce and fabulous there, Topher.
00:53:11Put your hand up and wave to everybody.
00:53:14That's a lady, everyone.
00:53:18And ladies in 2018-19 fiscal year come in all shapes, sizes, beards, forms, and gloves.
00:53:26You're fantastic.
00:53:28You look fantastic. You're really good.
00:53:29You really do.
00:53:30Kasha Davis came out with a video, a music video.
00:53:34So, I wrote her on Facebook and was like,
00:53:36Honey, where did you get those bracelets?
00:53:37And she was like, What's your address?
00:53:39Three days later, I get this box and I open the box and there are the bracelets.
00:53:43And a CD and an autographed picture.
00:53:45I cried.
00:53:46I cried.
00:53:47I called my mom, because my mom had watched the show with me.
00:53:50And was just like, I can't believe this.
00:53:52So, like, it was very emotional.
00:53:54And then, like, I have them, like, in a little shrine in my room.
00:53:57Kasha is my inspiration really because doing drag in the smaller cities
00:54:03or areas that they don't generally get, drag shows, I think is extremely important.
00:54:08I see kids today that struggle with who they are.
00:54:13And while it's not the struggle that I went through when I was younger, where kids are a little bit
00:54:19more accepting,
00:54:20I do see those kids that want to express themselves and have a hard time doing it.
00:54:45Get over yourself.
00:54:47You're not a woman.
00:54:49You're not a woman.
00:54:50You're a man.
00:54:51You're a man.
00:54:52You're a man.
00:54:53All right, people.
00:54:56Your show is inside, not here.
00:54:58Your show is inside.
00:55:02Be nice.
00:55:03I am being very nice.
00:55:06My heels do not make you a woman.
00:55:29There are some people who do think that the mainstream of drag is kind of taking the fun out of
00:55:34it,
00:55:35or is it, you know, has a flip side, a bad side to it.
00:55:38I miss...
00:55:41Underground.
00:55:42Underground CDs, sex underground.
00:55:45I miss some of that.
00:55:47Like, naughty, feeling like that.
00:55:50Don't worry about what I was doing.
00:55:53Exactly, Hinata touched on this.
00:55:55We used to be so subversive.
00:55:56We were so underground.
00:55:57We were shocking.
00:55:58We were rebels.
00:55:59Yeah.
00:55:59Breaking loose.
00:56:00Killing things people never do before.
00:56:03But I think the normalization, if you want to say, of dragons
00:56:06is something you can see in our community
00:56:08in general. The more that the
00:56:10LGBTQ community fights for equal
00:56:12rights and recognition and to be understood
00:56:14and to be at the table and to have the same
00:56:16sort of experience that other people have, the more
00:56:18our community is becoming more
00:56:21involved with
00:56:22outside our community. So it's sort of like
00:56:24a homogenization of LGBTQ
00:56:26in general, which I find
00:56:28a little disheartening. I want to be a freak.
00:56:30I want to be a freak. Don't call me
00:56:33normal. Please.
00:56:34No, I don't think I'm in danger of that, but
00:56:36don't have that.
00:56:38Don't assume that I want
00:56:41you to accept me for who I am,
00:56:42but I don't want the white picket fence.
00:56:44I don't want marriage. I don't want to be in the military.
00:56:46So all those things that we've been fighting to get
00:56:48have raised more incentive.
00:56:50Check it.
00:56:51I live in the suburbs.
00:56:54All the white picket fences
00:56:56and all of that. And I absolutely
00:56:58love being the queen of the cul-de-sac.
00:57:02Yes, and what is wonderful is that
00:57:03I've been able to walk around that neighborhood,
00:57:05sashay around, and I've got
00:57:06people who come to my drag story,
00:57:08other people who come to the
00:57:10different shows that we do in town.
00:57:12And that normalization for me
00:57:13is comfortable. So there's room for everybody
00:57:16at that table. I do like
00:57:18that.
00:57:22And I bought it, and I just want to thank you,
00:57:24because now I've been wearing it ever since.
00:57:25Because I haven't been able to find a perfume
00:57:27for every day that I liked, and now I wear it.
00:57:30And you can get it at Marshall's. You can get it at TJ Maxx.
00:57:31I like it.
00:57:32I have to fix this, because it may make me crazy.
00:57:35Why do they have these?
00:57:37Hi, honey.
00:57:38How are you?
00:57:40What's your name?
00:57:40Lillith.
00:57:41Lillith, you're just stunning.
00:57:43Is this your first drag concert?
00:57:44No, I've been here since I was six.
00:57:46Since you were six all that time ago?
00:57:48Three years ago.
00:57:49Three years? Let's get a picture together.
00:57:50This is fantastic.
00:57:51Thank you so much.
00:57:52Thank you so much.
00:57:53You're welcome.
00:57:55Are you going to be here tomorrow?
00:57:56I have drag story art tomorrow, 1 o'clock.
00:57:59It's a panel, so come join us.
00:58:01I'm doing it!
00:58:02She's doing it! High five.
00:58:04Fabulous.
00:58:05Have fun.
00:58:06This morning, I was on social media, and what's fabulous today, texting and everything,
00:58:12my youngest daughter, Jessica, graduated from Brockport today.
00:58:16She has, she's at graduation, so my heart's a little broken that I'm not there, but it's,
00:58:21you know, it's the way of the world.
00:58:22She's graduating, but she's going to get her master's degree.
00:58:24She's not just stopping there.
00:58:25And she's opening a hair salon.
00:58:27She's an overachiever, like her stepmother, father.
00:58:29Ed.
00:58:33Do you like that?
00:58:34Yeah, I do it.
00:58:35There, we're good.
00:58:37Always a filter.
00:58:38By the way, everyone would love to see you all sorts of things.
00:58:41Wouldn't that be great?
00:58:41Everyone would love it.
00:58:42From your lips to RuPaul's ears.
00:58:46Uh-oh.
00:58:47Now, this is the point of the day where the foam padding starts to rip the hairs out of
00:58:50my asshole.
00:58:51That feels great.
00:58:53Because it's friction, friction, friction, friction.
00:58:56We won't tell the kids that at Drag Story Hour, though.
00:58:58It's not information they're interested in, I don't think.
00:59:03Are we going to come to Drag Story Hour?
00:59:05Perfect.
00:59:06You're going now.
00:59:10This is what happens when you throw something together last minute.
00:59:18Without further ado, let's give a warm welcome to the best storyteller in town, Mrs. Kasha Davis.
00:59:28Isn't this fantastic?
00:59:30Oh, my God on a wheel.
00:59:33I was downstairs.
00:59:36And I was saying to myself, look at all these fabulous faces.
00:59:39And every one of the fabulous faces I saw came up to this panel.
00:59:42Isn't that wonderful?
00:59:43Give yourselves a warm hand.
00:59:47Now, since we're a small group and we're going to really get to know each other, wouldn't
00:59:51it be great if everybody just came down a little bit further, down to these front seats?
00:59:54The reality is, no matter what age you are, children of all ages can and should continue
01:00:00to follow their dreams.
01:00:01Because we have to really continue to foster and be our most genuine selves.
01:00:05Because when you are, the world celebrates it.
01:00:08Literally, a dozen people will come to your panel at RuPaul's Dragun when you are yourself.
01:00:13No, I'm kidding.
01:00:16See, I would love to be able to do that for a big group of kids.
01:00:19But they were cute, right?
01:00:21In Rochester, the shows that I'm building will have a sold-out house.
01:00:26It'll be a packed audience.
01:00:27It's really hard to leave my family behind to go to a show that doesn't necessarily have
01:00:32an audience.
01:00:34And it's frustrating.
01:00:36It's embarrassing.
01:00:37And frankly, you go back to the hotel room and it hurts.
01:00:45Is it you?
01:00:47Can I at least say hello to the Queen?
01:00:49Yes, of course.
01:00:51Is this Dallas extraordinaire?
01:00:54Yes, it is.
01:00:55It's so good.
01:00:56You doing all right?
01:00:57Having fun?
01:00:57I'm about to lay down in this room.
01:00:59All right.
01:00:59See you later.
01:01:00Because I'm at that point where I'm like, uh...
01:01:03Right.
01:01:03All right.
01:01:04Yeah.
01:01:20All right.
01:01:23All right.
01:01:31All right.
01:01:38My most recent Drag Race audition tape was, you know, 11th time was a charm.
01:01:44Nope.
01:01:45I had fun putting it together, and then I was excited about sending it in, but then I
01:01:50got the, no, no, no, no, I don't want you.
01:01:54I wish they would just send an email with like four words on it that says, you suck
01:01:58quit now, you are too old, not this year queen.
01:02:09I don't know, um, it's never been about me.
01:02:23Um, I've always been taking care of other people and taking care of other things and putting
01:02:28everybody else first, but I'm really selfish with Drag, because that's my one thing.
01:03:02I was going to Australia to perform in the Drag Queens of the Stone Age tour.
01:03:07So basically, I flew 24 hours to get to Australia, and within a few hours of landing, I had to
01:03:14perform.
01:03:15This morning, I got up and walked down to the beach and I just went, I had a moment
01:03:18of, oh my God, I'm like 10,000 miles from home in freaking Australia.
01:03:25Who gets to do that?
01:03:26Tempest Du Jour was on my season of RuPaul's Drag Race and was the first one to get kicked
01:03:31off.
01:03:34Charlie said she wasn't thrilled by the Stone Age tour name.
01:03:38I'm not totally offended by it.
01:03:39I love it.
01:03:40I mean, you've got to use what sets you apart, right?
01:03:44Right.
01:03:44This is what sets us apart.
01:03:46I love it.
01:03:47I have no problem with it.
01:03:49Well, if it had been called the Old Bitch Tour, I'd be happy with that.
01:03:53I don't care.
01:03:56The Drag Queens of the Stone Age tour is a tour that we put together celebrating some
01:04:02of the most seasoned talent to come out of RuPaul's Drag Race.
01:04:06On the Drag Queens of the Stone Age tour, we've got the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars
01:04:11Season 1, the iconic Chad Michaels.
01:04:26The nightclub culture in Australia is not very, it's not huge.
01:04:29It's still good.
01:04:29You can still make a living off of it, but it's not huge.
01:04:33So, we're pretty lucky to perform in front of the bigger crowds when these girls come
01:04:37to town again.
01:04:38Yeah.
01:04:38I just wish some of their, I call them race chasers.
01:04:42Yes.
01:04:42Because the fans only come out to see the RuPaul's Drag Race girls.
01:04:46I just wish they love drag that much.
01:04:48Come and see the local girls.
01:04:49Amen.
01:05:09Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for our very first international guests.
01:05:13Remember, there is always time.
01:05:16So, this is Josh and David.
01:05:23Come on, come through, you and you.
01:05:38This is a glamorous celebrity.
01:05:45We found out from the promoter that one of the spaces doesn't have mirrors.
01:05:50Yes, we need a mirror.
01:05:53And then the other space, we don't have a dressing room.
01:05:57We have to go back to the hotel to change for each number.
01:06:00It's really close by, but what if it's raining?
01:06:05The tour itself was a frustrating tour for the Queens.
01:06:08It's called the Stone Age tour.
01:06:10You know, we're old.
01:06:13We get it.
01:06:15I felt insecure showing up and performing
01:06:18because sometimes the audience turnout was really low.
01:06:21You know, it's so cool to be here.
01:06:23Thank you to Queer Touring Events and the fabulous.
01:06:26He's not here right now.
01:06:27He's home working the books or something.
01:06:31The promoter for Queer Touring and Events had the balls to say,
01:06:35do you mind if I don't pay you for a couple weeks because I have to pay Chad?
01:06:38He was like, look, I have to pay him.
01:06:41It's Chad Michaels.
01:06:42He was asking not to pay me while I was on the other side of the world.
01:06:47It was hard being in Australia, being so far away from home.
01:06:52Sometimes there are opportunities that are presented to me
01:06:54and I'm paying out of my own pocket to participate.
01:06:57Other times, I am flown all around the world
01:07:00and I'm paid very well to perform with a group of other drag queens
01:07:05from RuPaul's Drag Race.
01:07:06One of the tricky things is I really don't know necessarily
01:07:10what's going to be a useful career opportunity.
01:07:15For example, I flew myself to New York City
01:07:18for the premiere of Hurricane Bianca from Russia with Hate.
01:07:23As one of the actors, I was asked to be in a panel at the end.
01:07:29Here we go, the artwork.
01:07:30We are about to go to the premiere for Hurricane Bianca
01:07:34from Russia with Hate.
01:07:36First time in the movie.
01:07:37And I'm so glad that you're here with me, Mr. Davis.
01:07:40I'm excited.
01:07:41We got ourselves some matching blouses for the occasion.
01:07:44But it's been crazy.
01:07:46It was, you know, rushing back home, came home,
01:07:48cleaned, napped, walked Max, cleaned, napped.
01:07:51Mr. Davis came home, ate food, napped, woke up.
01:07:53Here we are.
01:08:10I hope you have a seat.
01:08:18I just want to say thank you so much for being here.
01:08:20We have a lot of family, a lot of friends.
01:08:23Our fabulous crew and a lot of really, really fun and excited Bianca fans.
01:08:28We really could not have done any of this without you.
01:08:31So thank you so much.
01:08:32I hope you enjoy it.
01:08:33And stick around.
01:08:33We'll be back after the movie.
01:08:37I need you to go in there and come back out with a full report.
01:08:41If we're lucky, police will round up the whole fruit basket.
01:08:43I'm Vicky Leakes.
01:08:45I run this joint.
01:08:46What are you in for, fish stick?
01:08:48That dress?
01:08:50I want to bring up director Matt Kugelman, producer Ash Christian, writer Derek Hartley, star Roy Haylock as Bianca Del
01:09:02Rio, and star Rachel Dratch.
01:09:19So we're going to get an Uber and get food.
01:09:22Go back to the hotel.
01:09:23Take this off.
01:09:26I thought I was going to be a part of the panel, but I guess I wasn't.
01:09:28I was surprising.
01:09:30I was like, oh, okay.
01:09:32You know, I was just kind of excited because I thought to see if I could see that, but whatever.
01:10:17Welcome to Drat Crunch.
01:10:20My name is Mrs. Usher Davis.
01:10:25My name is Mrs. Wesley Westwood.
01:10:36And it's very important for you to understand that it's Sunday, and you should be celebrating the Lord with a
01:10:42cocktail.
01:10:43Raise your applause.
01:10:49One of the things that I admire most about Ed, Kasia Davis, is he's also a philanthropist.
01:10:55He gives back to the community.
01:10:57He does so much for this community when asked to do something, to host something, to emcee something.
01:11:02And I think a lot of people don't know that about him.
01:11:05Kasia helped every year with all of the Rochester Pride events and has always been a huge supporter of the
01:11:11community.
01:11:12So, yeah, I'm probably like 10 to 15 years, and now I don't like to think about Kasia as Kasia.
01:11:17I like to say my friend Ed.
01:11:18Ed, my friend, Ed, my friend, Ed.
01:11:22Do you know why, though, Wednesday, this is another sold-out weekend here at Drab in a Brunch.
01:11:28So give yourselves a warm hand.
01:11:32You know, we've been here, we've been doing this Drab Brunch for now seven years, so please tell your friends.
01:11:38I came to perform and work with Kasia, and she, like, instantly was, like, super friendly and super supportive.
01:11:43She is, like, one of my biggest, like, kind of, like, parental roles as far as drag goes.
01:11:47This next gal is not old.
01:11:48She's brand new.
01:11:49She's fabulous.
01:11:50You're going to love her.
01:11:51She's Wednesday Westwood.
01:12:04Me being a heavy, heavy, heavy drinker, and Kasia always being sober around me, kind of, it kind of keeps
01:12:09me in check with my drinking, and it makes me think about, okay, it is possible to do this and
01:12:15do it well without getting drunk.
01:12:21Anything that I do, I really try to encourage that family kind of dynamic where we're supporting one another and
01:12:28helping to lift each other up.
01:12:32My name is Simona Yaffe.
01:12:34I love drag.
01:12:35Loved it all my life.
01:12:37So last June I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I have undergone three runs of chemo.
01:12:45So we drove for a 24-hour trip to Rochester just for drag brunch.
01:12:51I wanted to feel my joy in me there and start living as much as I could so I have
01:12:58something to keep grabbing from when things are really hard because I still have a long way to go.
01:13:07So we went and saw Aggie so she could cut my hair.
01:13:10Dorian taught me how to construct my new boob.
01:13:14And Mrs. Kasia Day was super lovely.
01:13:17I wrote her and asked what we should do in Rochester.
01:13:21And she sent me a great list of stores and places to go.
01:13:25So, I feel so grateful and happy.
01:13:29You know, on those days when I'm going to be stuck in bed, I'm going to be able to think
01:13:34how much fun today was.
01:13:37And how nice people are in this world.
01:13:41And I'm going to be able to keep going.
01:13:45So that's why I came.
01:13:47Bye.
01:13:48Bye.
01:13:49Bye.
01:13:50Bye.
01:13:50Bye.
01:13:50Bye.
01:13:54Bye.
01:14:04Bye.
01:14:23I realized I can have an impact on people's lives doing the work that I love right here
01:14:28at home in Rochester. RuPaul's Drag Race created this template of how to be a celebrity drag queen
01:14:37and it seemed to me that maybe I didn't fit that mold. It was important for me to navigate
01:14:45and pave a new way that really matched my performance, styles, and passions.
01:14:53How is everybody this morning?
01:14:58Oh, that's music to my ears.
01:15:02Woo! Hey there, boys and girls. I'm Mrs. Kasha Davis. And over the next few minutes,
01:15:07I'm going to introduce you to my fabulous vision, Imagination Station.
01:15:13Imagination Station is a celebration of the artists in our community. So it's sort of
01:15:19this Mrs. Kasha Davis's variety hour. So it's all inspired by shows that I grew up with,
01:15:27like, Mr. Rogers, Pee Wee's Playhouse.
01:15:29Oh my goodness! Look at everybody's smiling faces today! That makes me so happy.
01:15:36We have so many hits planned. Of course, we have our live music. We have some dancing. We have a
01:15:42story.
01:15:43Special guests!
01:15:45We're going to bring people in. We're going to have special guests. Because, like, how many people are out there,
01:15:49like my sister, Aggie Dune, season after season auditioning and not getting that moment.
01:15:56So, I guess I'll try one more and this year will probably be like, so I'm Aggie Dune and I'm
01:16:01auditioning for the 12th time.
01:16:05And that's kind of where I'm at with the RuPaul thing.
01:16:08The more I can do to have someone like Aggie or Ambrosia be a part of what I'm doing, that's
01:16:13really important to me.
01:16:20As a queen in the community, if you're lucky enough to be one of those that are the leaders in
01:16:24the community, you can help unite people, you can help bring them together.
01:16:28I'd love to ask you, what will you be when you grow up?
01:16:43I want to help those parents and I want to help those children realize they are enough.
01:16:48They are exactly the star they are always meant to be, whatever that is.
01:16:53Now, run in place. You've got to run and jump, jump, skip to the side because you have to practice,
01:17:01practice, practice and work hard and practice and never give up.
01:17:04It's really something to see. She's very passionate about the kids show.
01:17:08Come on in if you want to join.
01:17:10I'm just so proud.
01:17:12Are we ready? Are we getting close?
01:17:13A young woman was telling me that her daughter was very, very shy the first time she came to the
01:17:17show.
01:17:18And then each time she came closer and closer and now she sits right in front of me.
01:17:22Yay! Thank you for bringing those. That is very special.
01:17:25And I see some beautiful wits over here too that look fantastic.
01:17:29That is wonderful. Thank you for addressing that.
01:17:32There's an opportunity to talk to the kids about gender and sexuality.
01:17:36So if the question comes up, we address it, but we assume that these kids understand.
01:17:42These kids light up and look at you as if you are truly an angel or a queen or a
01:17:48princess without an ounce of judgment.
01:17:50And they look at you as if you are the most beautiful thing they have ever seen.
01:17:53I am kind.
01:17:55Go.
01:17:55I am kind.
01:17:58I am helpful.
01:18:00I am helpful.
01:18:03I am grateful.
01:18:05I am beautiful.
01:18:05I am beautiful.
01:18:08I am me.
01:18:11I am me.
01:18:13And I am fabulous.
01:18:17I am fabulous.
01:18:19I am fabulous.
01:18:20Oh, I love it.
01:18:21Give yourselves a big round of applause.
01:18:46A lot of times older people give up on their dreams and say they're too old for that.
01:18:51There's a lot of wisdom that comes with experience.
01:18:57Sometimes you just can't sing a song or do a scene unless you've lived through something.
01:19:03A divorce.
01:19:04A death.
01:19:05Sometimes you just can't make it.
01:19:06You have to live through it.
01:19:07And you've got to get older first to have had those experiences.
01:19:17I may be turning 50 but I'm just getting started.
01:19:21Yeah.
01:19:23And we can see you first.
01:19:28You
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