On Point With: Tastie

Alongside on-and-offstage partner Morrigan Von Haunt, Tastie is one of New Jersey’s few spooky “alternative” drag queens… and definitely one to watch (and watch out for!) this Halloween season.

Thotyssey: Hello Tastie! So um, did you happen to catch any of the Emmys? Folks seems underwhelmed, if not completely annoyed, today.

Tastie: I actually did not! I was strutting my stuff at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park all day!

How did that go?

It truly was one of the most special days of my entire life. Myself and a few other queens (Jolina Jasmine, Luxx Noir London, Victoria Courtez, and Magenta Milian) were asked by a local band, Remember Jones, to come out and be a part of the debut performance of their new single, “Boys+Girls+Inbetween.”

After the show, we had the entire day to just walk the festival grounds and go see some live music for the first time in over a year! It was just spectacular. I had a cute little interaction with Orville Peck that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Love him! Was he masked the whole time?

I love him too! It’s amazing to have artists breaking boundaries and bringing queerness into places where it’s not generally accepted! It’s a very powerful thing! And yes, he sadly was masked the entire time. The mystery remains!

But now, onto the Queen of the Moment: Tastie! Are you originally from New Jersey?

I am in fact a native New Jersian… born and raised in Toms River!

And were performing and fashion always a part of your life?

Absolutely not! I was so closeted growing up that I kind of shielded myself to anything I deemed “feminine,” like fashion or makeup and hair. It wasn’t until I got into my current relationship and we both discovered drag that I decided this is my path in life. This is what I’m meant to be doing.

Tell us a bit about that relationship, and how you both discovered drag.

Well his name is Tom, and he’s now also a fellow drag queen named Morrigan Von Haunt who co-hosts the “Hotties and Oddities Drag Revue” at Georgies Bar in Asbury Park with me every Thursday night! We met, funnily enough, on Grindr so many years ago, and we actually just celebrated our eight year anniversary! We just got engaged this past Christmas!

But when we met, he was already a very openly queer person who had worn makeup in the past… and he introduced me to a little television program called RuPaul’s Drag Race way back during the run of Season 6. From there it just kind of stuck, and I fell in love with the artistry of makeup. Now here I am, about eight years later, hosting my own shows. It’s been a wild ride.

You and Morrigan have a sort of horror aesthetic that folks normally don’t associate with Jersey drag, which is known for pageantry and high energy dance performance.

Exactly. When we came into the scene, there really weren’t many–if any at all–performers really doing “alternative” drag in Asbury. But it was something that I truly believed in. I felt it was time to shake things up a little bit, and I feel like people now a days are really embracing “different.” And when you’re an artist, sometimes you have to say, “I’m doing this for me… and if people like it, great, and if people don’t… that’s not my problem.”

Actually the first time I ever performed on stage was at Paradise during the ‘Fresh Face” competition, doing a heavy metal song.. and I won! I actually like to think I paved the way for a lot of the newer queens in the Asbury scene. The tides are really changing, and there are plenty of queens out there doing something maybe a little more out of the box.

How did your show with Morrigan at Georgies come about?

It actually was crazy. We had not performed for about a year during all of quarantine, and we had just moved into our first place together, and life was really hectic at the time… so we almost thought we were gonna just quit doing drag. So when things started opening back up and Georgies asked us to host the show, it was an immediate yes… with lots of thoughts of uncertainty, because we had been out of commission for so long. But it’s turning out to be such an amazing time, and such a learning experience!

We had already been performing at Georgies for quite some time–we were both shot girls, and also even had our own monthly show, “The Twisted Cabaret” that always had such an amazing turn out–so I think they were really wanting to revive their drag shows with some crazy different energy. That’s how “The Hotties and Oddities Drag Revue” came to be!

Georgies is a second home to me; it’s a small little dive bar with so much personality. Everyone that works there is like family. I always say “you can walk into Georgies alone, and walk out with ten new friends.” It really is the Gay Cheers of Asbury Park. And the show is just an over all great time… we want to incorporate all kinds of talent, regardless of your drag persona. There’s blood and guts but also glitz and glamour, with a whole load of camp! I just want people to come out and laugh with us and enjoy the show, and leave thinking “damn, I had a great time!”

And you two are the wise choices to host Georgies Friday night Halloween party on the 29th!

Yes we are in fact hosting the Halloween show, along with my fellow ‘Fresh Face” winner, E.LicksHer! I’m hoping for an amazing turn out! There’s $1,000 worth of cash to be won, so I’m hoping people really turn out with the costumes this year!

Anything else coming up to alert the children about?

Well I’m just gonna plug my weekly show one more time: “The Hotties and Oddities Drag Revue,” every single Thursday at Georgies Bar! I will be doing “Bitchy Bingo” at Paradise with Whendy Whaxwood next Tuesday, and I also have my first gig in Delaware coming up in the next couple weeks, too! I’m booked now more than ever, so you can follow me on Instagram–I’ll be posting all the fliers of my upcoming shows, if you wanna come out and see what I’m all about!

All amazing! Okay, last question… who is a Halloween monster or killer that has an undeniable sex appeal?

My top pick forever and always will be Michael Myers. There’s nothing sexier than a tall, brooding man that’s knows how to keep his mouth shut! I think most of us can agree with that.

Yes indeed. Thanks, Tastie!