After coming of age in Russia, this performer wound up turning it out drag-wise in the unique and historic southern Brooklyn scene while also representing an important queer charity organization that gives voice to the voiceless. Hear more from the magnificent Maxxxim! [Cover photo: Russ Rowland]
Thotyssey: Hello Maxxxim! So first off… what’s with all the X’s, lol?
Maxxxim: Maxim is actually my government name given to me by my family, after a long deliberation of whether it should be Moses or Maxim. In drag, I add the extra two X’s for drama. Imagine if they called me Moses? Lol, I’d have to be a drag king then!
Ha! Most of your gigs are in the Coney Island area… is that where you’re home based?
Yes, I live between Coney Island and Brighton Beach. I thought I’d start producing shows close by me so I don’t have to shlep for an hour on the train or car to the nearest queer space.
That makes sense! The Coney Island entertainment scene is very unique: closer to the carnival, circus and vaudeville origins that all nightlife harkens back to. Can you profoundly feel that vibe?
Oh, for sure; there is nowhere else in New York (or other parts of the world I’ve been to, honestly) where that vintage, nostalgic Americana not only exists but thrives. Sometimes I see performers doing acts that I didn’t know were still being done (or sometimes even existed). And Coney Island USA and the Sideshow do a great job fostering that vibe and that scene.
And there is also a great sense of old school New York grittiness and rawness and freakiness that we don’t get to see in other scenes. This age of Drag Race and social media became a little too concerned with looking polished and digestible to wide audiences.
Amen! So, let’s cover a bit of your origin story: see you a native of Russia?
Davay! (it means let’s go, lol!) I was born in Brooklyn, and grew up in Moscow from three months to when I was 16. I like how you ask “native or Russia” because my mom’s family is Jewish from Odessa / Ukraine, and my dad is a mix of Armenian, Persian, Kalmyk and other ethnicities. So growing up in Russia I never identified as ethnically Russian… but in the States I do. It’s always feel complicated when people ask if I’m Russian, because yes / no / trauma!
The Russian lifestyle has obviously changed a lot over the past century, depending on who was in charge.
Yeah, Russia loves to change radically change things and be random like that, lol (not).
I’m guessing that being a young queer person growing up there was not an easy situation.
You know, my friends from Russia who are in my age group (neé 1996 here) often talk about it, that the late 90s-early 2000s was probably the best 15 years in the history of our country: Soviet Union collapsed, we had a young democracy, there was an influx of western ideas, businesses and culture. And there was actually a lot of queerness there: all the best nightlife was queer, LGBTQ+ talent was dominating culture (t.A.T.u, Verka Serduchka, etc.). If I was a 20-something, I probably would have lived my best life. But as a queer kid, it was incredibly lonely and isolating because I didn’t see any other queer kids or adults; the homophobic remnants of the Soviet era were still greatly present in the general population.
Looking back, I realize that growing up in Moscow to young, artistically inclined parents, I was much more safe to express my queerness than folks in other parts of Russia. But it was still hard and scary being the first generation born after the collapse of Soviet Union, where being gay was severely punishable.
I can only imagine. But as you said, you were still able to experience a glimpse of queer art, or art in general, that may have ultimately put you on the drag path while you were growing up there.
Oh, for sure. Verka Serduchka was one of my favorite artists growing up, and she seemed so glamorous and engaging to me. I wanted to be like her! And she wasn’t the only [drag perfumer] on TV: Shura, Zaza Napoli… even RuPaul made it to the post-Soviet Russian airways, [where people were] hungry for freedom. Plus, in general the Russian entertainment industry and all the singers were either gay or looked like drag queens, with big hair and makeup. That’s the kind of culture I grew up in, and it shaped my taste in music and in performances.
When brought you to New York?
2012: Putin was re-elected, it was absolutely rigged, there were protests, and people were severely beaten and jailed. Everybody knew it, but it seemed like the majority of people just didn’t care. My family and I quickly realized that I need to get out of the country and go stay with my grandma and great-grandpa in Brooklyn. 12 years later, I’m very grateful.
A a Jew and a Ukrainian raised in Russia, it must be basically impossible to watch the news today with all that is going on in the world.
The news has been driving me up the wall; I even talk about all of it in therapy.
The past three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion have been painful. I’m a deeply empathetic and politically tuned-in person, and war is absolutely the worst of humanity. There are no winners, but there are a lot of lives lost and shattered. And of course there is the news with its sensationalizing nature, and there is social media where everything is x1000 and everybody wants to argue and cancel each other.
But for me, it has been very real. I have family in Ukraine who had to hide from bombs. I have family and friends in Russia, whom I will probably never see again (I couldn’t go to my own grandma’s and sister’s funerals). And I have friends and family in Israel–many of whom are there because they fled Russia or Ukraine–and now are stuck in between two wars. The kitchen table conversations in my house are filled with fear and tears.
Drag really helps. It allows me to connect with people who are going through similar things as me, and I get to perform in Russian and Ukrainian as a radical manifestation of joy.
Can you tell us how and when you started drag here?
My drag started out of me seeing that there is just not enough representation for Eurasian drag artists. Before I started drag, I was an events producer and activist–my daytime job is coordinator for RUSA LGBTQ+. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, my focus shifted on doing fundraisers for Ukraine in the queer nightlife community and I just could not find Ukrainian speaking drag artists. So one day, I decided to do it myself; I am, after all, a trained ballroom dancer (like all post-Soviet kids growing up in Brooklyn), and I have a Bachelors in theatre. Plus, I came up in the northern Brooklyn drag scene and learned the trade just by watching all my friends. So it’s been almost two years since I started doing drag.
How would you describe your aesthetic and performing style?
I would say I’m a dedicated live performer with a classic aesthetic and a gender-bending twist. I’m a big fan of old school drag, but I also love being from Brooklyn where I can have my beard and my hairy chest (that’s the true moneymaker right there, lol).
When it comes to performing, it’s all about channeling not just the energy, but also the story of the song. I spent hours digging into every emotion and lyric, watching videos of the original performer, comparing different versions of the same song until I find what Barbra Streisand calls “the truth.” I think it’s the acting background in me, but there is also something very powerful in being able to lip sync a song without having to worry about the vocal delivery.
My sister was a writer, who knew how to capture the complexity of human emotion in her poems, and I’m trying to honor her legacy by exploring that human emotion through channeling the music when I’m on stage. My favorite numbers to perform are ballads, when I can just channel pain and hurt and heartbreak and hope and all those things that we all experience and we all connect to. But I also love a high energy number because as a person, I operate at a very high frequency and I need that release!
You’ve been hosting a RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing party at Coney Island USA’s Freak Bar with co-host Nancy NoGood this whole season, that concludes this Friday.
Yes! We were actually the only Drag Race viewing party in the entire southern Brooklyn (and might have even been the first one ever!). It was an absolute dream come true; to have people from all over southern Brooklyn come together and meet each other is almost radical because there are close to no queer spaces anywhere below Prospect Park. And boy, have we had [a time] there! Just being silly and queer surrounded by a sea of conservatives–Brighton Beach, which is a 15 minute walk from The Freak Bar, has voted twice for Trump.
Nancy NoGood is one of my favorite people: she is kind, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, she is an incredible partner, and she is also an educator and activist like me… so we speak the same language. And to have two Coney Islanders host this show is the epitome of why representation and community matter so much.
Indeed! How amazing was that “LaLaPaRuza” showdown on this past Friday’s episode… and who’s winning the whole season this weekend?
The LaLaPaRuza was insanely good! The whole Freak Bar was jumping with us watching it, and what a great concept. We actually did an open set after the episode because we originally thought that the usual reunion episode would be boring (just rehashing all the drama we already all lived through on Twitter) and folks will stay at home, so let’s bring folks in by having other performers join us! But it turned out to be one of the best episodes of Drag Race ever; and we are so proud of Megami, who in my opinion should have won the episode (Staten Island and southern Brooklyn have a strong cultural and political bond, and we claim her as one of our own).
Next week will be hard because I want them all to win: [finalist] Plane Jane is obviously Russian and I’m rooting for her, and when it comes to Sapphira it was absolutely her season! But I’m impartial to Nymphia–she is just a walking piece of art, and her approach to drag is unique and different from any winner (or contestant) that we have seen before.
The night before the finale, you’ll be hosting a totally different show at Coney Island USA: “Woman Who Sings,” a tribute to Alla Pugacheva! Our girl Svetlana Stoli will be there also, alongside several other performers who will feature drag, dance, live music and more. What can you tell us about Alla, and this show?
Thank you so much for asking, as this show is an absolute dream come true for little Maxim. Alla is the ultimate icon who 50 years into her career continues to be beloved and revered by hundreds of millions around the world. She sold half a billion records, and has hundreds of hit songs. The primadonna of the Soviet and Russian scene, she has an unmatched intergenerational and multicultural appeal: her songs are loved by everybody from babushkas at Brighton Beach to fashion it-girls at Parsons. And she was always a queer ally, and an unapologetic fighter for the truth. Even Putin is afraid of her because of her influence and strength.
This show will be our love letter to the soundtrack of our lives. There will be drag, there will live singing, there will be spoken word and video vignettes… a full production worthy of our primadonna. We can’t wait to laugh, and cry, and be nostalgic together with our audience!
And on May 11, you and Svetlana will be co-hosting another finale viewing party, this time for the Eurovision contest! Are you a longtime Eurovision fan… and any tea on what country could win this year?
I am a huge Eurovision fan, and very happy to see it’s finally becoming a thing here in the States! Obviously the politics that we have discussed before have affected Eurovision as well, but I still love the music and the joy it brings! I’m rooting for Ukraine because their song choice is fantastic, and England because OLLY! But it seems like Switzerland might be taking it this year. Its gonna be a good show, so I’m super excited to do it at my favorite club 3 Dollar Bill this year as we know the energy there will be electric!
Besides all of the above, what else is coming up for you?
Come to Brighton Beach Pride on May 19th organized by RUSA LGBTQ+! It’s an incredibly important community event that feels like a true protest: it’s exhilarating, it’s powerful, and it’s a great reason to come to the beach! And then join us for the free afterparty at Zula, located in the historic Coney Island Amphitheatre, where we will be giving shows and kicking off 2024 Pride season!
And shortly after that, you’ll be in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.
Svetlana and I are going to be working together a lot! I will actually be joining her Tuesday show “Unhinged” at Balcon on May 21st.
Glorious! Okay, lastly: what’s your favorite thing about drag… and what’s your least favorite?
Favorite thing is that drag is magic that can make one’s dreams come true! Least favorite is unfortunately the narcissism and “dog-eats-dog” mentality that plagues a lot of drag scenes, due to high competitiveness and lack of community support. And of course, the fact that Kings and Things don’t get booked as much.
Well said! Have a great season of shows, Maxxxim!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Maxxxim’s upcoming appearances, and follow her on Instagram.
Thotyssey 