A champion of old school, quick-witted camp comedy drag, the star of 2013’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 6 (and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” eighth season a decade later) Darienne Lake returns to NYC for a special show this week.
Thotyssey: Hello Darienne, thanks for chatting with us today! Can you tell us where you are now, and what you were doing right before you started answering these questions?
Darienne Lake: I’m sitting at my dining room table / wig styling station / office / sewing room / cat feeding center. I just got done feeding my cat Smooshie.
You’re about to hit the road again with your latest show for a few cities! Do many years of touring mean that you know where all the best bars, clubs, stores and restaurants are in every city? Or do you have to relearn that stuff all the time?
At this age, my memory is shot. But the benefit is, I always get to try something new.
What’s your favorite part of multi-city touring, and what’s your least favorite?
The best is racking up Delta Sky Miles, and the worst part is that they’re basically worthless. I do enjoy exploring new cities, as it satisfies my childhood dreams of running away from home.
These days, do you see a larger presence of anti-drag and anti-queer protesters and trouble makers at or near certain gigs, or not so much?
Most of the anti-drag or anti queer protesters are all online, and they never actually show up to the gigs. Gas is expensive, so I get it.
You of course are a great comedy performer–what we called in the Olden Days a Mic Queen! Do you write jokes and material ahead of time, or is most of your stage banter improvised or golden oldies from your repertoire?
I used to write jokes down in a notepad, but then it started to look like a terrorist manifesto. Now I use my Notes app on my phone. But a lot of the comedy comes from my ADHD brain getting triggered, like a jukebox on random.
There are many great trivia facts from your history that I rediscovered in my research, but I’ll just bring up my two favorites here. One is that, although you are well-known as a Western New York / Buffalo / Rochester area queen, you’re actually a Long Island native! Do you still have ties to that area at all? And were you ever in any Long Island Drag online forums with George Santos, lol?
Would you consider AOL chat rooms an online forum? I still have some family in Queens. I grew up in North Babylon, but relocated [to Rochester] when I was 11.
The other trivia fact is that you were the last RuPaul’s Drag Race flagship show contestant to be chosen for the cast by Facebook fan votes, back in 2013 for Season 6! That itself must have been a very gratifying and emotional victory for you! Why do you think Drag Race stopped taking online fan picks… it was a great idea!
I think they stopped using the internet fans when they cast Mimi Imfurst as “number third” in the voting for All-Stars.
Drag Race got more popular with every season, but Season 6 is remembered as being particularly elevated and grounds breaking. The show had maybe fully found its groove by then, but also the star power of that cast still resonates: you, Bianca, DeLa, Adore, Courtney, Laganja, Gia, Vivacious… even first out Kelly Mantle is a star podcaster now! Do you remember that whole season like it was yesterday, or is it like a weird dream?
It seems like a lifetime ago… but every now and then I’ll get acid flashbacks when I hear certain songs, or eat flaming hot Cheetos. If someone mentions an iPod Shuffle, it brings me back to learning the lip sync for your life songs–which I already knew, because I’ve been listening to that music on cassette tape.
When you returned for All Stars in 2023, you were part of another vibrant cast that included Jimbo, Kandy, Heidi and your sis Kasha Davis! Were you shocked about how much of the way production did things changed since you were last there ten years prior, or did things not really change that much after all?
I expected that things were gonna change, but I didn’t realize how much of a machine it had to become. Maybe it was always that way, and I was just oblivious to it back in Season 6–but it was clearly obvious where it was heading. I went from the best season of Drag Race to the worst season of All Stars.
From your whole run in those two seasons, do you have an all-time favorite standout memory on or off camera? How about a Worst Cringe moment, lol?
My favorite memories were definitely off camera during Season 6: Courtney Act would throw bars of soap at my window, and we’d go out on the balcony and gossip about the day. Or when we were all sitting around in the morning before we got mic-ed.
My worst moment was when we were filming the promo shoot for Season 6. They wheeled out racks of designer clothes for all the other girls to wear, but because of my size they didn’t have anything for me to wear… so they had somebody whip up an ugly dress and ill-fitting jacket. It just made me feel like the fat kid who was never invited to the cool parties. Luckily it wasn’t on camera, because I actually cried.
Do you feel like Drag Race and social media have kind of streamlined what drag is today, compared to its more punk, wild camp and activist roots? More recent Drag Race casts have been filled with young performers that are great makeup artists and dancers, but arguably not a lot of dynamic personalities or risk taking artists.
In a way, Jasmine Masters was right–RuPaul‘s Drag Race fucked up drag. So many girls rely on tricks or flawless looks that they had designed, made, crafted and put together with little or no input. Yet I feel people are very anti-AI these days–fans are clamoring for real entertainment. But RuPaul’s Drag Race has opened the doors for incredible opportunities: [RuGirls are] showing up in movies, TV, Broadway, tours, etc. The opportunities are bountiful.
You’ve been quite open about your health journey from Season 6 through today, both with your dramatic weight loss and your skin cancer recovery. It’s so challenging to live a healthy life these days, especially in your line of work. Do you have any health hacks you can share with us?
Don’t congratulate or berate yourself too much… because weight and mood will fluctuate. Wear sunscreen.
Tell us please about your frequent live show co-host Aggy Dune! How did you come to know her, what’s she like as a performer, and why do you two jell so well together?
I first saw Aggy Dune playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a local Rocky Horror Show. My high school friend told me that she’s a drag queen, so we went to go see her perform–and I was blown away at the transformation. Rochester, New York is a small city, and an even smaller drag community… so it was easy to be within the same circle. She was at the tail end of the old generation of drag queens who took their drag so seriously, and I was a part of the new generation that was ridiculous and unhinged. We both can take the darkness and trauma and find humor.
Your show with Aggy, “Big Wigs,” comes to New York’s G Lounge on Saturday, August 8! What’s this show like, and how have you enjoyed touring it?
It’s been so easy to tour the show because it’s so relaxed and structured. It leads to a lot of impulsive and outrageous moments with the audience. Come see the show–because if I die afterwards, you can say you saw my last show. Plus, my merchandise will go up in value.
Do you have any favorite New York hotspots, or local queens you like to kiki with?
The great thing about New York is there are always new and exciting people.. but it also has legends like Shequida, who is such a warm and hilarious person to be around.
Looking very much forward to the show! Finally: what would you like the title of your future autobiography to be?
The Bible Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Thanks, Darienne!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Darienne Lake’s upcoming area appearances, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkTree as well as her website.
Thotyssey 
