Jersey’s top drag spellcaster has a million gorgeous (and shocking!) tricks up her sleeve.
Thotyssey: Hello E! How is life in the Mayhem Era treating you today?
E. Licksher: Truthfully between Mayhem and the weather getting nicer, I really can’t complain. I hope everyone with Thotyssey is also enjoying what life has to offer!
Absolutely, thank you! As Jersey’s premiere drag magician, you must be thinking of a million ways to use “Abracadabra.”
Unfortunately! Lol, totally kidding… but of course, I’ve been working on something. Although, I’m not really in a rush to do that song, since every drag performer and their grandma has already used PTO to learn the choreo.
By the way, were you at your home bar for Miss Paradise last month?
OMG, that was such an incredible night! I was actually Mimi Sashimi’s dresser that day, and I’m so incredibly proud of how well she did. Same goes for all of the queens that competed! I’ve been to a few Miss Paradises, and this one was sincerely in my top three.
When drag fans think of New Jersey, they likely picture its rich history of pageantry. As a queen who’s aesthetic and stage persona doesn’t necessarily gel with that, was it a challenge to become visible in Jersey drag?
Thankfully, Asbury Park has always loved me from day one… and it was probably because of how different my drag was. My first number was at Georgie’s in 2017, when I was escaping from a straitjacket to Postmodern Jukebox’s cover of “Crazy Train.” Then later that year I won the Asbury Park staple “The Fresh Face of Drag,” and it jumpstarted an insane drag career–landing me gigs from shotgirl to weekly show host! It actually wasn’t until Covid hit where I put magic and drag together. I didn’t even think to fuse the two together, because I thought no one would care!
Are you a Jersey native?
Born and raised, baby! As for where I live, depends on who you ask. Before drag, I would’ve said Jackson… and since I started drag, I say Asbury Park (neither are correct).
How did you discover magic and drag?
I’ve done magic since first grade, and then went professional at 17; drag started when I was 23. When Covid hit, I went through my attic, found my magic, and had the epiphany! Like, there’s so much drag in being the magician’s assistant, but I didn’t know if people would like that (rather niche) character type. The reason why is: whenever someone hears a bad singer, they’d never say “all music sucks.” However, when people see a bad magician they say “magic sucks.” In the end, I stuck to my gut and really do magic in drag for feminism; there’s some misogyny in the magic community.
That’s true, we’ve see very few female presenting magicians in pop culture! Do you have any signature tricks you can describe?
Okay, so I mainly do stage magic. One that never leaves my bag is making an egg disappear, and having a random audience member make it reappear. I can make a drawing on paper move, and even make a table float! I also love shock magic, like Russian roulette or making someone’s head disappear. Then I have my feats, like juggling knives or eating lightbulbs (these are very real, and should only be performed by train professionals).
You’ll be back at Paradise on Monday to host Cee’Mour Cox’s birthday show! Is she a good Judy?
OMG, of course! This’ll be my third year hosting her birthday; I love that rotted bitch!
Then you return to Paradise on March 19th for a night called “Wheel of Opulence.” Tell us more!
I’d love to! So I host a theme night at Paradise once (sometimes twice) a month, and we flip back and forth between musicals and game shows. February’s theme was Little Shop of Horrors and March’s theme is Wheel of Fortune! For game shows, it’s like a bingo night… but instead we play a PowerPoint adaptation of the game. As bizarre as that sounds, we did Family Feud in January and it went over better than I ever could’ve expected. Now we have Deal or No Deal, Are You Smarter than a Drag Queen, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and Cutthroat Kitchen coming soon!
What else is coming up for you?
So for this month, I’ll be in Port Jarvis for Catskills Pride’s March Social on March 22nd, and then I’ll be back in Asbury Park the next day (March 23rd) for Divinity Banks’ brunch at Georgie’s! Now aside from my show at Paradise, I also have a monthly show in Philadelphia with Kameron LaReese! It’s at The Cambria right in the Gayborhood!
And speaking [earlier] of Miss Paradise competitors (shameless plug), you can catch Venus Mystique, Vanity LaVain, The Countess Mascara and Tastie (from “Cabinet of Curiosity” at Georgie’s) at Paradise for Drag Visibility Day! On Wednesday, May 7, they’ll be competing in my show “Hot Ones: The Sabotage Showdown,” a drag competition where Hot Ones meets Cutthroat Kitchen! Show’s at 8pm, but show up whenever because they’ll be events going on all day!
Finally: Drag Race! We’ve sadly said sashay to Jersey’s Crystal Envy a few weeks ago, and this week we bid adieu to designing genius / joke thief Arrietty! So now, who’s team are you on for the win?
Ugh, Crystal’s elimination was personal. My mom does wigs on the side (follow Mama on Instagram; she even did a wig for one of Crystal’s runways, but it was unfortunately for the one right after her elimination (the parasol runway). As for a winner, mama and I were just talking about how Onya Nurve is probably going to take the crown. Speaking for who’s still in the competition, I loved her and Lydia B Kollins from the start.
Agreed! Thanks, E!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for E. Licksher’s upcoming appearances, and follow her on Instagram.
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