It’s Muppet Mayhem with this flavorful Kandi Clown and potential future Mx. Nobody, Sour Somethings! [Cover photo: Pat Plush & Nelson Luna]
Thotyssey: Hi Sour! How is summer treating you so far?
Sour Somethings: Hi hi! My summer has been super fun and exciting! It’s been a lot of prepping for my round of Mx. Nobody in August at Purgatory, and doing a lot of running around for the next show I’m producing: “The Muppets Take Wonderville!” Going to concerts and hanging out with my drag family; I can’t wait to have my slice-of-life beach anime episode at the end of all of this.
You also just did a Wonderville show last month.
OMG, yes! I did a Smiling Friends drag show. it’s one of my favorite cartoons right now because of how stupid it is. We had SourDoe Starter as Mr.Boss, Nico Nasty as Pim, Problem Child as Charlie, Sir Clover as Alan, and I was Glep! I love doing shows at Wonderville because most of what I make is based off of fandoms, cartoons, and emo shit I really love. Most of the people that show up are really cool nerds that have never seen or experienced drag shows before, but are just really into whatever fandom I’m hyperfixated on at the time. I did a lot of closet cosplays when I was younger, and was never able to have the cosplay group of friends I really wanted… so it all feels really healing that now I get to lowkey make all my friends cosplay and perform with me. It feels really special. Also! we get to take full advantage of the arcade Wonderville has the entire time.
Fun! Very important question before we get to the big stuff: Labubus, Yay or Nay?
YAY! They look like an evil Animal Ccrossing villager.
How might you describe your drag today, as far as looks and numbers go?
Sour as a character is heavily influenced by early 2000s mall culture! I want to constantly look like I fell on a Claire’s clearance rack, or that I raided a Hot Topic. It’s also very inspired by Decora Kei fashion and scene kid culture. I like looking like an iSpy picture book at all times — especially when I have 20+ hairclips that are just trinkets and toys and random objects in my hair, or have 50 kandi bracelets and cuffs on me. Sour is a layered, colorful, alty, cringey, mall monster creature, clown girlthing. I want to be a sensory experience that’s overwhelming in the best way!
One of my favorite numbers I do is me stapling worm-on-string to my body to “Doctor Worm” by They Might Be Giants, which is a really silly and cute song! (shoutout Selena Surreal for teaching me how to staple). The act of stapling myself on stage is a little horrifying to some people, and I like seeing people either laughing because what I’m doing is a little ridiculous, or on edge because they’re a little freaked out. The sweet and the sour™. I think in drag, at first glance, I’m really cute and colorful… but once I get on stage I just come across a little strange and weird, and I love people not ever knowing what to expect of me!
An acquired sour taste! Do you feel like you’re part of a supportive drag tribe?
Of course! I feel like I’ve been gaining drag family and really close friends since I started! Mt. Aloofa has been helping me with my drag since almost the beginning. She truly gets me in drag, and we both come at it from a really passionate and intense perspective. That’s my bestie. Also, Problem Child is my sister! we are literally the same person in different fonts. we’ve co-produced together multiple times, and we started our brain child “Better In Black” together back in May! We plan on putting on a bunch of all black drag tribute shows; we figured since not a lot of people are prioritizing booking black drag performers, why don’t we just book each other? They are one of my favorite divas to bounce ideas off of.
[Everyone] I’ve ever booked in drag, I’ve started really beautiful friendships with… and that’s why I call my shows “Something & Friends” because it’s me doing shows with friends while also making new ones. I feel like this is all an episode of My Little Pony and I’m Pinkie Pie because “Friendship Is Magic.”
Can you share a bit of your origin story with us: where are you from originally, and were performing and art always parts of your life?
I’m from Jersey! I was born here and I still live here. I just have a lot of friends in Brooklyn that I hang out with, so I’m there often!
Performing is still very new to me; I’ve always been a bit of a shy person, unless we’re besties. I was watching Drag Race since it started, and I thought it was really cool… but I didn’t know it was something that I’d be able to do since I had never seen other transmasc people doing it… until I saw GottMik!
My first experience with drag in person was when I was showing up to “Open Bussy Stage” every week [at Pink Metal] with Xaddy Addy and Miss Bussy, and I’d see how welcoming and supportive [everyone] was to the newer drag performers. I knew I wanted to do try it but I was horrified. So, I told myself I should do it once, and if I hated it I would never have to do it again… but at least to try. My debut number was a really silly Weird Al medley that I expected people to not be too hype about… but it ate! I felt so cunty! And silly! And it was super fun! After I finished my number, I immediately said to myself, “that was the best feeling ever, I need to keep doing this.” So, now I’m here!
Have you had a favorite onstage or stage-adjacent moment as Sour?
The Clown Cult one year anniversary show! I had been manifesting a Clown Cult gig since the moment I started drag! I went to the very first show, and I thought it was the coolest and craziest shit I had ever seen. When I finally got booked for it, I made over 100+ kandi bracelets to give to as many clowns as possible, and people still come up to me at Clown Cults now and show me the kandi I made them from that gig! I felt like a little kandi clown fairy that got to hand out little trinkets, it felt magical. I actually got to do my Weird Al number that I debuted with at the show! It felt like an extremely full circle moment for me.
Clowns and puppets seem to be having their moment, particularly in Brooklyn drag and indie theater venues! Do you attribute that to anything in particular?
Who doesn’t like puppets? Queer people love The Muppets; Miss Piggy and Kermit are a t4t couple. Each episode of the OG Muppet Show was basically Kermit producing a drag show every night.
My relationship with clowns has been a journey; I was terrified of them as kid. One of my mom’s favorite movies when I was a kid was Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and that being my intro to clowns definitely didn’t help. I’d even go to the circus every year on my birthday, and dreaded seeing them. It wasn’t until I got into high school that I got over it! They’re just kinda silly and weird, and incredibly unserious. I resonate with that; I think we should be given more space to be a little stupid! Clown Cult 5ever.
Speaking of Muppets, lets talk more about “The Muppets Take Wonderville” on Monday! You’ll be pulling the strings, so to speak, with Soraya Sis , Meat Puppet and Harvey!
This idea has been such a long time coming for “Something & Friends!” We’re gonna have a killer raffle with sick prizes, [everyone] got to choose a Muppet to be, and we’re gonna have a silly little roulette at the end! A lot of people come to my shows in cosplay, so I’m super excited to see who people are gonna be dressing up as! I, however, am gonna be Gonzo, my nonbinary alien icon! I cant wait to see what everyone is going to bring.
And as you mentioned earlier, on August 15 you’ll be partaking in Round 3 of Mx. Nobody at Purgatory. Congrats! I always imaged that it must be such a challenge to do a pageant prelim number, because you want it to be good enough to advance, but then you’d have to top it for the finale!
I’m never afraid of topping myself!
What else is coming up for you, or is there anything else at all you wanna mention or discuss before I ask the closer?
I’m sleepy, so after Mx. Nobody I’m gonna be chilling before my second drag birthday in September! Shoutout being a Virgo. I don’t know anything about astrology, actually. Something & Friends & Co LLC has a lot of stuff coming up super soon, but it’s also a super secret for now! Having fun isn’t hard — when you’ve got a library card.
Okay lastly… what’s your most essential item in your drag bag, cosmetic or otherwise?
A glue gun! For when a random toy falls off of my hairclips. And a blueberry Red Bull.
Thanks, Sour!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Sour Somethings’ upcoming appearances, and follow them of Instagram.
Thotyssey 