Slaying the game by day as a real estate agent (with a streaming presence!) and by night as a fierce southern queen, Ruby Dickulous will shine her crimson light on NYC this weekend.
Thotyssey: Ruby, hello! Thanks for chatting today!
Ruby Dickulous: Hello, Jim! Thank you for having me! It’s always been a dream of mine to be a Thotyssey gal, so this is truly an honor.
The honor is all ours! I know you’ve been traveling a lot lately, where are you now?
I’m currently in my home city Austin, TX. Packing for New York now!
Yay! Considering all that’s going on in the country, it must be a very… interesting time to be a drag queen in Texas.
It definitely is. The drag bans? I saw it as unconstitutional theater from it’s announcements, and the courts agreed.
I can think of two wild experiences over the past couple of years. At an Austin comedy club I had to involve the FBI and APD because some redneck online threatened to shoot up my show. Did I cancel? Hell no. I performed with snipers on the roof and agents in the lobby. In Corpus Christi, after receiving death threats, I just invited my (armed) family to the show. That’s Texas for you.
That’s truly crazy, but it’s great that you know how to take care of business! Are you a Texas native?
Born and raised, honey. I grew up all over Texas because my dad was basically a gay man–an alcoholic who moves to a new city every three years. So I got the grand tour of this state, whether I wanted it or not. I chose Austin in 2001, and I’ve been here ever since.
Before drag, were you always interested in fashion, performance, etc.?
It was always about entertainment for me. I wanted to be on TV before I could even spell it. I was a theater kid who played football; a method actor and a linebacker, honey! Later I studied radio, tv and film in college and worked for Vann Kennedy at CBS, where I learned real journalism. Spoiler alert: I hated it.
I pivoted into entertainment radio in Austin, and that’s where the magic happened. Being around standup comedians, they pushed me onstage because I kept making them laugh. That’s why I always say I’m a standup comedian first.
Drag came later. I grew up with a lot of shame around it. My grandfather was a closet crossdresser, and when I got caught playing dress-up as a kid, let’s just say… my mom didn’t throw me a parade. It took years to shake that shame off… but here I am with a drag persona born from my dead grandmother.
Fascinating! How exactly did your drag journey begin, and what are your drag shows usually like?
After years of Halloween parties pretending I was not a drag queen, I launched my professional drag career around 2012 and stopped doing stand-up as my male persona. I also did what most gay men do when they give up on life in their thirties. I got a real estate license.
I never wanted my clients to find out about the outrageous things I said on stage, so naturally I just started doing it in drag. Of course, the comedy character I created ended up selling real estate in drag, too.
My shows are like a low rent Varla Jean Merman. Well, more like a Section 8 Varla. I am kidding! I usually do 60 minute shows with 45 minutes of standup and 15 minutes of original parodies.
Your life as a drag real estate agent has gotten some screen time!
I created my own series that eventually turned into a movie called Drag Realty, co-starring Porsche. I never got to finish it because, around the same time, I had been posting videos online about being a drag queen real estate agent, and production companies started sliding into my DMs, including a former producer of RuPaul’s Drag U and later producers from Queer Eye.
Over the next ten years we pitched to multiple networks, but nothing quite made it to air. I was in my latest development deal with a major network when, while leaving Puerto Vallarta, I got an email from a different production team. They were offering me a special featuring my double life as a drag queen real estate agent and standup comedian.
I trusted my gut. After a decade of dead-end deals, I knew better than to wait around. I walked away and took The Queen of House Hunting opportunity. It truly was a dream come true… until five days before it was supposed to air, the network pulled it without warning.
But the story didn’t end there. Now it is finally gaining real momentum. It is streaming on HBO MAX and finding a whole new audience (apparently if you leave the U.S. or watch it on a plane, you can catch me on MAX). Three years after filming, people are just now discovering it and reaching out. You can try to bury a good idea, but it will always claw its way back to the spotlight. I am very grateful for it to come out.
Real estate sale and drag require some similar skills, right?
Absolutely! To sell a house you need to landscape, put some paint on it, and hide your junk!
Lol! How exactly did you meet Porsche, by the way?
Porsche and I go way back. She is like my drag mother–well, more like a stepmother that left your dad, but you bonded. She’s drag mother adjacent: unofficial, but critical. We met through mutual friends here in Austin. She is originally from here. Porsche taught me New York. She taught me Broadway. She taught me how to find my silhouette so I did not look like a linebacker in a wig. She has been a real mentor and booked me on Fire Island years ago, introducing me to New York nightlife. She’s honestly the only true one I can name from my start. We even did shows together before I ever touched a pair of heels. She led me down the path to the drag closet, and gave me the shove I needed. Otherwise I would still be running around telling people “I just love Halloween!”
You will be back in town to reunite with her for a special two-queen Stonewall “Invasion” this Sunday! How cool will that be!?
So cool! When Porsche invites you to invade Stonewall, you drop everything. The place is as historic as we are. With her being a fixture there forever, It’s gonna be a wild party… and I’m just here to avoid embarrassing myself, or at least not any more than usual.
What else is coming up for you?
Live and uncensored: I am headlining Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago on June 22nd at 7pm, with new cities being announced soon! This August, I am back home on Fire Island causing more property damage.
Online: You can catch me on TikTok or IG showing real estate or being an idiot for clicks, or my new show, The Ruby Dick Roast. My new interview with Porsche just dropped and it is available now on YouTube or anywhere else you pretend to listen to podcasts.
Lovely! Lastly: what’s your most essential item in your drag bag, cosmetic or otherwise?
I always carry my grandmother’s earrings with me (and her six-shooter.)
Thanks, Ruby!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Ruby Dickulous’ upcoming area appearances, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Thotyssey 