Your inner kid’s favorite drag performer is serving whimsy in Brooklyn playgrounds throughout March and beyond. Nobody puts Problem Child in a corner! [Cover photo: Angel Rivera]
Thotyssey: Hello PC, thanks for chatting today! It’s March! How has the year been treating you so far… fascist apocalypse aside?
Problem Child: Howdy! My years been pretty fun and exciting; like the many queers before me who have had their fair share of fascist apocalypses, I just gotta keep the whimsy up!
Lots of fun new projects are coming my way, I’m indulging in spending more time with my drag family and friends, and being more obnoxiously joyful in the face of things… so that helps.
It does! Overall, I would say that your drag presentation is about childlike joy and games and toys and fun, etc.?
Yes! The Problem Child character is basically my inner child gone rabid. He’s made up of all the cartoons I used to watch and the toys I wanted but couldn’t afford, and she’s got cotton for brains… so she stays lovable the whole time. I feel like queer people often are forced to grow up really fast due to outside pressures, and my whole drag is about reconnecting with that innate desire to play and make believe with others. It’s all the whimsy of childhood meeting the drink tickets of adulthood!
Can you tell us a bit of your origin story… where are you from originally, and how did drag ultimately come into your life?
Oh wow, that’s a story that almost goes all over the boroughs! Yaga Tigerlily and I are childhood best friends. We’ve known each other since middle school, and she was the one who introduced me into Drag Race and drag in general. Then one day, she’s just like, “I wanna do this!” And I was basically her drag assistant, and we’d run around Long Island and Hells Kitchen… and that’s how I got into nightlife. Then we started seeing Brooklyn drag, and it was at a particular competition called “BitchFest” that I was like, “oh wait, I want to do this. I want to be part of this great canon of weirdos.” And then I did a club kid contest at Albatross, got second place, and the host Mx. LeStrange was talking to me as if I did drag already, and then I was like “Fuck it, I might as well!”
Then I got in a terrible mug and terrible wig and terrible cowboy hat and kittened for my brother Zanax’s birthday show as Problem Child, and then performed for the first time at Evangeline and Mauve’s “Knick Knacks” that next month.
All this to say, by pure luck, I’m a Libra in and out of drag. You’d think being a Queens native and resident I’d be more a Astoria diva, but Brooklyn is my bohemian freak paradise.
The new generation of Brooklyn drag is interesting, but hard to describe! If someone asked you “what’s Brooklyn drag like these days,” how might you respond?
Well first I’d say “how did you get in my house!?” Secondly I’d say “Brooklyn drag is freedom–freedom in all its confusion, madness, joy, and above all revelry. It’s all about art and laughter, for better or for worse.” Drag, for me, is about jumping behind the veil of normal living. Like, the truth is: nothing is normal, and nothing has ever been. You can stop pretending here!
By the way, you recently hosted a screening of The Wiz, right around the time that that the current season of Drag Race paid homage to that and other Wizard of Oz iterations! What’s you favorite version of the Oz story?
Talk about timing! In my defense before any allegations of nacho eating begins: I’ve been deeply obsessed with the Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland, and The Wiz ever since I was a kid, and I genuinely think not being allowed to be Dorothy or Glinda in my elementary school play was part of my villain origin story. I’ve been listening to the original novel series on audiobook recently, and it’s made me place The Wiz version even higher in my Oz tier list because it’s strangely way more in line with the book canon! Also, something about the way Diana Ross portrays Dorothy screams “undiagnosed neurodivergent POC diva,” which of course I eat up every time.
But my look that I had Mauve whip up was in line with Judy’s famous portrayal. I love Judy Garland; I love how she connects to the queer spirit of the underdog, and how she kept this comedic spirit up despite her insane amount of personal tragedy. What can I say: I’m a clown who can appreciate another clown!
There’s a month of clowning to look forward to. First off, there is a weekly bingo situation at Purgatory with rotating co-hosts, and you’re one of them! When will next see you roll those balls… and randomly, what’s your favorite bingo letter-number?
Oh how we all go to “Boyngo!” That’s a joint production between Lie-Luh and TK at Purgatory with me, my drag brother Corsette, and Meat Puppet host in random pairs every Tuesday! The last time I hosted it was for the Black History Month edition with everyone’s favorite boylesque legend Corsette, and I kittened a couple times in the weeks leading up to that. Half the fun is that not even I know when I’m rolling the balls; you’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled on our socials to see about the prizes and prize givers that week!
As for my favorite letter number, hmmm… B13! October 13th is my drag birthday, so I think it’s lucky when I pull it!
We can definitely catch you at Purgatory this Wednesday for “SanrioLand,” which appears to be a drag tribute to the Hello Kittyverse?
So “Sanrioland” is another installment of my line of shows called “Whateverland!” It’s a drag theme park with ever-changing themes that come from the voices in my head, and whatever I think is fun to reinterpret under a drag lens! I basically round up my favorite drag artists, give them the prompt of ” character / concept but your way,” and let them go crazy. I used to run the Sanrio store of Queens Center Mall like the navy when I was a kid, so it feels full circle that as a grown adult I get to slap kitty cat ears on my head and trap my loved ones into my artsy rollercoaster of drag dreams! We’ve got Corsette reinterpreting Chococat as a boylesque icon, Sour Somethings reinterpreting Usahana as a scene kid scream queen, and Maljo Blu as Fresh Punch, which is a cup of juice… and her Artpop could mean anything!
I feel like “Whateverland” indulges in the more sinister side of PC, the new wave villain of a kids’ film who probably dies at the end… but is so merchandisable.
And on March 17, you are bringing a show called “Let’s Get Creative” to Wonderville with several of those above-mentioned folks. What’s in store for us there?
Oooh, the thing about me is I love a Something and Friends Production! Sour being the genius she is, is capitalizing on the neurodivergent niche interest market in spades at Wonderville once again with a drag show where the characters and numbers are based off the 2010s horror web series Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. I’m returning to host as Yellow Guy, who’s very childish and sweet and stupid: all things I deeply identify with as a fellow sufferer of cotton for brains! And we’re gonna have a killer raffle for sick prizes, and the Wonderville arcade at our disposal as per usual! I truly love these shows, and how they bring people who never thought they see drag or have any interest in drag to see something spectacular.
Looking ahead to March 22nd, you’ll be part of what looks like a unique drag event care of The Nobodies at Purgatory: “A Nobodies Tag Battle!” Tell us more!
On the 22nd, I have the honor of not just being the littlest Nobody but also the littlest referee (Corsette will be taller, he wears heels) for “Nobodies Tag Battle!” We’ve snagged ShowPonii, Sherry Poppins, Daniella Darling, and DiDi Opulence and thrown them in the ring for a lip sync Battle of Doom, with tag battle rules! So no duets over one minute, no biting, and no holds barred! I’m Baby will be our honorable and fair judge because, I mean, are you gonna disagree with the King of the Lesbians? I don’t think so! And I think the fervor and madness of the last Mx Nobody [pageant] will definitely be felt here too, because we have some of sickest performers in Brooklyn giving a gauntlet of shows! And there’s so much potential for future teams in future installments! (I’m also very bribe-able!)
What else is coming up for you?
Gosh, just off the top of my head: I’ll be running sound and helping out at my drag mother’s birthday show–but not really birthday show–“Catherine,” a drag show tribute to Kate Bush. You can always catch me running around or in the crowd of “Sex Change.” And who knows, maybe we’ll see the return of my brother Class Clown this year! I’ll definitely be a part of this years Mx. Nobody Pageant, to the point I even thought about competing again. And I just literally got asked to be in a clown fashion show! So, the sky’s the limit for PC LLC, and this is the part where I say my bookings are always open!
No promises, but I’ve been rolling around the idea of an Animaniacs drag show… and a shadowcast of The Wiz because, I mean, people paid to see me be Dorothy once… why not one more time but the real deal?
All amazing! Okay lastly, what’s the most essential item in your drag bag, cosmetics or otherwise?
A plushie or a trinket! You need to have a little buddy that matches the fit and says something about who you are! My OG bestie was my Beanie Baby Ratzo, who’s now immortalized on my arm. And I think he says the essentials about me: small, pink, and looks great in packaging!
Thanks, PC!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Problem Child’s upcoming appearances, and follow them on Instagram, Twitter and LinkTree.
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