Bianca Del Rio and Lady Bunny are a match made in comedy heaven.
This weekend, a host of RuPaul’s Drag Race favourites including Aquaria, Kim Chi and Yvie Oddly will come together for Werq The World Live Stream, a global benefit raising money for local queens who are out of work during the coronavirus shutdown.
Hosting the live stream spectacular are drag legends (and longtime frenemies) Bianca Del Rio and Lady Bunny, who will appear live from their living rooms in LA and New York respectively to introduce the queens and no doubt throw plenty of shade.
Ahead of the show, we got Bianca and Bunny together on the phone to find out how they’re coping with self-isolation, whether the gays are really to blame for coronavirus, and why Bunny’s new gig selling used toilet rolls isn’t quite taking off.
Hi Bunny! I guess we should wait for Bianca before we start.
Bunny: Why? I don’t think that sounds like a good idea.
Okay, let’s just start and Bianca can join in when…
Bianca: Hello! Sorry, I was sitting here like an asshole going, ‘What the fuck, I know nothing about technology’.
That’s okay. How are you doing?
Bianca: I’m alive.
That’s great to hear. I’m curious, how are you both filling the time while social distancing?
Bunny: Well, Bianca was telling me earlier that social distancing is easy when everyone hates you.
Bianca: It is! I’m actually doing a book called, ‘How to survive social distancing’, and it’s just pictures of me.
This is obviously a really difficult time for nightlife and queer performers. What kind of impact do you think the coronavirus pandemic is going to have on the drag scene?
Bunny: I think it’s going to have a terrible impact, because a lot of people already live pay cheque-to-pay cheque, and now those pay cheques have stopped indefinitely. So I think there’s going to be really rough times ahead for the foreseeable future, and in the interest of self-isolation I think that doing this kind of live stream or Facebook Live video is the way that DJs and drag queens can still connect with their fans.
Bianca: On a positive note, even though the coronavirus is upsetting and insane, drag queens are now wearing masks which has really, really helped some of the ugly ones.
Bunny: Valentina was ahead of the curve, honey.
Bianca: She really was. Valentina was useful… who knew!
Bunny: Another thing is, a portion of the proceeds of the ticket sales goes to benefit drag queens who are out of work, local drag queens, and they can fill out a form on vossevents.com. Also, 100% of the tips which people give during the performance will all go to the local performers. I’ve seen some of their live streams, so hopefully some of them will be able to get some new looks or numbers together.
How is this live event going to work then?
Bianca: Well, I’d love to give you an outline and be very professional, but the bottom line is this; it’s gonna be Bunny in her house, me in my house, she’s gonna up her medication, I’m gonna start drinking, and we’ll both be on camera. We were going to do this sooner but we’ve been a little busy creating a new website for performers called onlyfags.com, which will just be us getting naked and being sexy, so we had to fit this in our schedule. But we don’t know what’s going to happen! If you’ve ever seen anything Bunny and I have done, we really don’t know what happens, and if you have seen us, please let me know because I still don’t know what the fuck we’ve done.
Bunny: Neither does the audience most of the time.
Bianca: Correct.
Bunny: But this is great, because we’re all being encouraged to stay at home and work from home, and I’ve tried to find a way to work from home, I’m selling used toilet paper, but it hasn’t really taken off yet.
Bianca: Bunny’s very smart, it’s called camouflage white, because then you don’t mind the brown. But I have to say, we’re really looking forward to it, and what’s great is that you have all of your Drag Race favourites – not mine, but the public’s – you’ve got Aquaria, Asia O’Hara, Gigi Goode, Kameron Michaels, Plastique Tiara, Miss Vaaanjie, Violet Chachki – because no one else would ever hire her, she’s available – and you even get Yvie Oddly! Just don’t ask for a photo. Don’t even take a photo of the TV or your computer screen, she gets very upset. For those of you who don’t know, Yvie Oddly did win Drag Race… some season after I won.
How do you both think the art of drag can help people get through difficult times such as this?
Bianca: Well, I think the reason we’re doing this is not really to help other queens and not really to help drag, we’re doing it because everybody has seen everything they can fucking imagine on Netflix, so now they need something new.
Bunny: Well, I mean, listen, people can’t go to a club or a bar or a theatre anymore, so…
Hello?
Bianca: Bunny? Hello?
I think she’s gone.
Bianca: You know what, it’s actually a blessing that she’s gone, I think we’re in a much better place.
Shall we just carry on?
Bianca: Yeah. You know what happened? She has a pacemaker, and you’re not supposed to use the microwave near it, she was probably making hot dogs or something and she just sparked out.
Some conservative preachers have blamed the gays for this pandemic – do you think there’s any truth to that?
Bianca: Oh of course, I blame the gays for everything. Let’s be honest, gay people ruined the world…
Bunny: Sorry, my phone cut off.
Bianca: Pay your fucking bills!
What impact has the coronavirus pandemic had on both of you personally in terms of plans, tours, or events coming up this year?
Bunny: Well… I have a gig in October.
Bianca: She had a gig. But the scary thing is we don’t know if Bunny’s gonna make it to October, so she has to give back the deposit.
Bunny: My next gig is cutting a hole in a mask and trying to blow my landlord.
Some queer people are having difficulties self-isolating with homophobic family members. Do you have any words of wisdom for them?
Bunny: Well, I think that you can ease family tension by screwing your family.
Bianca: Until this day, no one has given me a better blowjob than my uncle. It’s because he doesn’t have teeth.
Bunny: I think he might be my uncle too.
Bianca: Stop it! You’re sharing all our business.
Bunny: I’m kidding, he’s my grandson.
Bianca: The only thing I do in isolation is just drink. If you drink, you don’t know what day it is, so it all kinda makes sense. My days are actually pretty busy. I wake up, I drink. In the afternoon, I drink. And in the evening, I make crystal meth in my bath tub.
Bunny: I don’t drink alcohol, so I’ve been doing shots of hand sanitiser.
You’re staying safe, then.
Bianca: Finally, that mouth is somewhat clean!
Are there any shows you’re binging to keep you entertained through this?
Bianca: No.
Bunny: I heard there was this new show about tigers and old gay men with ridiculous hair styles, but I’ve already seen the Siegfried & Roy biopic.
Do you have any final words for our readers?
Bianca: We are looking forward to the show, it’s gonna be on Saturday 4 April, so everybody go ahead and sign up at vossevents.com. We don’t know what’s gonna happen, so this is gonna be quite exciting for us and the audience. Just remember when you’re watching the live stream, I’m only gonna be dressed from the waist up. I’ll be naked down below.
Bunny: I’m gonna do the opposite. I’ll be dressed from the feet to the waist. So you might wanna get out some lube… or a blindfold or something.
Werq The World Live Stream will air at 5PM PDT / 8PM EDT / 12AM GMT on Saturday 4 April and can be streamed worldwide from any device at VossEvents.com.
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