Queue And A

‘Drag Race’ Alum Bianca Del Rio: ‘When I Don’t Wear a Wig, I Get Called a Nasty Fag; When I Do, I Get Called Hysterical’

Season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race aired way back in 2014, which means that we’re well past the statute of limitations when it comes to spoiler alerts. Bianca Del Rio triumphed that season, sending her career into overdrive. Her new stand-up special, Rolodex of Hate, is out this week on Vimeo.

(Seriously, if you haven’t seen Drag Race, you totally should. It’s the best reality show on TV, and you can catch-up on Hulu.)

In a 20-minute interview with Decider, Bianca Del Rio referred to me as “Bitch” at least three times. She yelled at me! She is rude, abrasive, insensitive, sarcastic, catty, unrestrained, foul-mouthed, and unmoored to contemporary norms of common decency. Roy Haylock —the man beneath the wig— is none of those things. OK, he’s some of those things, but he’s no Bianca Del Rio.

DECIDER: You put on a character and do a stand-up routine. Are those two different things for you?

BIANCA DEL RIO: Bianca is definitely an extension of who I am as a person. I don’t think of it so much as an act as packaging to get away with what I do. When I don’t wear a wig, I get called a nasty fag; when I do, I get called hysterical.

Was your stand-up career already in pretty high gear before you were on RuPaul’s Drag Race?

I had been working and been able to pay my bills both in New Orleans and in New York but not on the level that I’ve been able to work lately. We will have done the show 93 times by the end of the year and all over the world, and we’ve had audiences of 1,400 people on some nights over two shows, so that’s all been kind of surreal.

Did you eventually stop noticing the cameras on Drag Race?

Oh, totally. The lead-up to Drag Race is extensive, and when you finally get there you’re just don’t know what to think. For me, I knew that I wasn’t in control of the situation. I wasn’t in control of the other contestants. I wasn’t in control of their talent. I was only in control of what I could do in the moment. Everything happens really quickly. We’re not doing it weekly the way it airs; we’re doing it everyday. You have a tight schedule, so you kind of forget about the cameras after the first day.

On tour for Rolodex of Hate, do you perform two shows a night most of those nights? Is that pretty grueling?

There were two shows some nights, yeah. We started last November and had pockets of time when I could leave and do other things. I’m grateful to do what I get to do. I live for those moments when I get to get on stage and get that response from people. That’s the payoff and what got me through it, and you’re only as good as your last show.

Does the audience respond differently to the material depending on whether it’s a more mainstream or more gay audience?

Because of Drag Race, I would say 80 percent of the audience is usually straight. The majority are straight women who loved the show and bring their husbands and their boyfriends. The majority of my followers on Twitter (@TheBiancaDelRio) and Instagram are straight women. I was fascinated by that.

Do you settle into much of a routine on the road?

There aren’t enough hours in the day. Land in a city at 2 p.m., have a meet-and-greet at 5, get ready, do the show, get back to my hotel, get out of drag, and then 6 a.m. it was off to another city.

Your stage persona is pretty abrasive. Do you play with the limits of that from night to night, or are you full-out bitch every show?

Each show is different depending on the crowd and where I am, but I don’t hold anything back. I think I’m the biggest joke there is, so I don’t look at it as, Oh, I’m better than you, so I’m gonna make these comments. Look who’s talking — a man in a wig. Nothing is off limits as far as I’m concerned.

Photo: Vimeo

The movie you made this summer with Alan Cumming is called Hurricane Bianca. Is that about the character?

A friend of mine [Matt Kugelman] wrote the film. It has nothing to do with me, per se, but it deals with the serious topic that in 29 states it’s legal to be fired for being gay. The movie is about a schoolteacher named Richard who lives in New York and moves to a redneck town in Texas. They take advantage of him, ridicule him, and out him and fire him for being gay — which is completely legal, and I hope gay people are aware of that. That’s a lot more important than Starbucks cups.

He decides to seek revenge on this small town of inbreds, so he returns as Bianca Del Rio, this no-holds-barred bitch who’s ready to make things happen. That’s 29 states — 29 states! That floored me. I wanted to deal with it in a comedic way that doesn’t beat you over the head like a documentary, but it’s a serious topic.

Are you taking the film to festivals next year?

We finished the film, and it’s being edited now. It’s an independent film, so the process takes a while. We’re going to festivals hopefully in the spring.

You made insult videos as a crowdsourcing stunt, which I thought was pretty clever. How much money did you raise for the film doing that?

To be honest I’m not exactly sure, but it was more than $100,000, which was great for us. We were grateful for all the generous people who donated to make it all happen. We started raising money for the film before I did Drag Race, and then when I was doing Drag Race I couldn’t discuss where I was. So then when I came back we continued crowdfunding, which had elevated because being on TV is a powerful thing.

You just turned 40, right?

Yep.

What that a hard birthday for you?

Not at all. You know, 35 was hard for me, but I welcomed 40. I had planned on quitting drag at 40, but doing Drag Race at 37 kind of shifted my plans. I have no intention of quitting now because it’s opened so many doors for me. I know myself better than ever now.

Barry Humphries was still doing drag in his 70s, you know.

I doubt I would do that, but I do love Barry Humphries. He created something like 10 different characters, and the one that stuck was Dame Edna. I don’t think I’ll last until 70.

Are you working new stand-up material yet?

I have a few projects that will be happening that I can’t really talk about at the moment, and I’m writing a new show that will start next May in Australia.

Are the projects you can’t talk about film or stand-up projects?

Like I said, I CAN’T TALK ABOUT IT! WHAT DID I JUST SAY TO YOU, BITCH? It could be anything from writing a book to doing a TV show! I. CAN’T. TALK. ABOUT. IT. [Laughs.] Because of the schedule that I’ve had, it’s one of those things where I’ve barely had a moment to think about what’s next. The show has kept rolling — which is great — but we finally put a cap on it. I’ve visited every place I could visit, and now more people can see it thanks to Vimeo.

How did you wind up doing the special on Vimeo? Did you find Vimeo, or did they find you?

Oh, please! They called me incessantly! Seriously, I was very fortunate that some people had seen the show and knew of me and wanted to take a chance on someone who was really unknown outside of the Drag Race/gay world to do one of their first specials. Everything now is online and available when they want it, but for me as an artist I liked that there’s no censorship. They said I could go do whatever I want and they would have my back. How often does that happen?

You sound like you’re really enjoying your career path right now.

What else am I gonna do? Sell Tupperware? With my attitude, the only thing I could do is work behind bulletproof glass at the DMV.

[You can rent or buy Bianca Del Rio’s Rolodex Of Hate on Vimeo]

Scott Porch writes about the streaming-media industry for Decider. He is also a contributing writer for Signature and The Daily Beast. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottPorch.