It would seem that in 2024 we are blessed to be experiencing the second coming of Sasha Velour. After winning RuPaul’s Drag Race S9 with that lip-sync, Sasha focused on her legendaire Nightgowns show and helped showcase queens across the US.
But 2022 saw her tour her Smoke & Mirrors show around the world, breaking language barriers, delivering sickening lip syncs and ruminating on the art of drag. In 2023 she published, The Big Reveal, part memoir/part history of drag and then travel across America, filming the ray of sunshine that will be We’re Here Season 4. This year, March/April to be exact, Sasha brings her new tour, The Big Reveal Live Show, to the UK and on to Europe.
Loverboy speaks with Sasha Velour about the lip sync that truly changed the game, keeping the Drag Race producers on their toes and finding new drag children through We’re Here.
Hi Sasha, have you made any New Year’s Resolutions?
Nothing serious, but I do burn my intentions in the fire every year. This time was about not letting self-doubt hold me back. I seem like someone who just does whatever. But I still overthink everything to this day. I always think there is room to be bolder in our decisions.
I read in one interview that you are training yourself to do the splits…
That’s a good one actually. I’m starting to do some aerial performance for my next show, which I am already planning, so I may need to stretch for that. I’m turning thirty-seven this year, I think it’s a great time to learn.
Next up is the UK leg of the The Big Reveal Live Show. I think you’re going further north than I have ever been!
I’m learning about the cultural differences as we go. When we did the Smoke & Mirrors Tour I became very close with our bus driver who is a true Geordie gentleman. He explained some of the differences and I felt an immediate affinity for his manner, maybe it’s a little bit more American in some ways.
You probably don’t get much time to really see the cities, do you?
I do get a couple of hours. We travel with our dog so he gets to sniff the local pee and leave his own little mark in every city. As a result I get to see some things and usually strike up a conversation with someone random. A cute little dog is good for that.
One thing I loved so much about your Smoke & Mirrors show here in Barcelona was how, regardless of the audience’s varying degree of English, everyone was totally committed and engaged.
Oh I’m so glad to hear that. I was worried about the language barrier because I do feel that the spoken parts of the show are important. Thankfully there is always a tonne of lip-sync performances that transcend language which is beautiful.
Is there a similar ratio of lip syncs to spoken word on The Big Reveal Live Show?
Yes, I think so. Two speeches, one personal and one that is more theoretical. For some reason the theoretical one is hilarious this time and yet also very biting. I’m really proud of it. Then there are about twelve performances which is kind of the sweet spot for a show. Perhaps this is a little strange but I do think about it in terms of astrology. I assign my performances their own astrological sign and take you on a journey.
When I came to your Smoke & Mirrors show, I was sitting next to Sagitarria & Dovima Nurmi. I hear you actively reach out to local queens and invite them to the show. I love that.
Yes, I love being in contact with all different types of drag artists and getting to perform for them. Drag Race introduced me to a lot of people. But I did a little research beyond that too because there is so much drag in the world! Actually for this show there are going to be special guests onstage and a duet with a new artist every night.
How do you rehearse that?
Through all my Nightgowns shows I have learned how to get a group number together in forty-five minutes. I feel like it’s my special skill. Also I’m so bad at choreography that if it’s something I can learn then anyone can do it! In Barcelona we have Supremme Deluxe joining me who I think is one of the best Drag Race hosts. In Madrid, it’s Marina and when she paid tribute to Ocaña on the show, that was a story I hadn’t heard and dug deep into.
How was your experience on Drag Race Germany?
It was really fun. A couple of people I met filming there are going to be guests on this tour as well. I got to connect so much with the contestants backstage and with Barbie at the judges’ table.
I love that you spoke more German than one of the judges. We love you, Diane!
I was really worried about my German. Diane made me feel so comfortable. She was like, ‘Listen I don’t speak German at all but I do fine here so you’ll be great.’ I actually thought they were going to give me a little script or something. But no, I was on my own. I was thinking, ‘OK, decline those nouns correctly! Conjugate those verbs!’
In your book The Big Reveal, I enjoyed reading about how drag is not solely for the Queer community but there have been huge drag stars from the straight world too, like Danny LaRue.
Yes I found figures worldwide throughout the twentieth century and it sounds like even earlier than that. As long as there is no shame and criminalisation around it, drag becomes part of everyone’s culture. I feel like that is how it’s supposed to be. It doesn’t matter your age, background or education. The more people I am able to reach, the more I hear, ‘This spoke to me.’ It’s just performance. Emotion.
Also in 2024 you have We’re Here coming up which I am excited for, although sometimes I have to say as a Brit watching American TV, sometimes I can be a bit cynical.
Oh do tell. I am all ears.
When I think of programmes of this ilk, I always feel like they have been so carefully set up but people have told me this is not the case…
For me it was an amazing experience. I shared some of your reservations because at first I thought, without having watched it, that this may be for straight people to learn about Queer things. But a drag performance will always hook me in and I thought, ‘OK I need to watch the whole thing.’ And it is all very genuine.
If anything the people who are cast do believe that they will experience some kind of change by drag. They are craving anything that pushes them out of their comfort zone because they feel stuck or frustrated. Drag is perfect for that. I find myself wanting to temper people’s expectations and say, ‘When we do your lipstick and put your eyebrows up HERE, it’s not really going to solve all the problems in your life!’ But at the same time part of me knows how much it changed my life.
I was surprised by how close I got to my drag children. Even though we’re filming things for camera, we’d still have these real moments off camera, like going out for dinner. I felt grateful for this show as a way to connect to people who are so similar to me but live very different lives because of where they live or how things have shaken out.
OK, you have sold it to me.
Good. It’s a cool project.
With regards to Drag Race, I know you have said you would go back but given all that you have accomplished since then why would you risk putting yourself back into the hands of the producers?
I will say that I think I surprised production last time. So I feel like, you know, I can take accountability for myself. I love to show off what I do. I enjoy watching Drag Race, it was fun to be a part of it the first time. Maybe they haven’t asked me back because they know I would surprise them. But you know I am open to it.
Maybe returning to the show gives you the option to present a more current version of Sasha Velour.
Right, I feel like the best drag I have done has all been since I appeared on Drag Race. So that would be my motivation to go back. I’m almost like a different kind of drag queen than what I was. The same spirit but I really know what I am doing now! There’s something very charming about a wish and a prayer or rather two vintage dresses and two pairs of shoes. But you know now the drag is at a different level!
Who is your money on for this season?
I am friends with Dawn and love her. All of the New York artists I have had a chance to meet. I met Nymphia Wind last year and I judged her in a pageant in Maddelynn Hatter’s Manhattan pageant. I voted for her to win and she won. I think she is unbeatable so I am very curious to see how things will go down.
Lastly we are named after the biggest-selling single of 2001 so we always ask what is your favourite Mariah song?
My favourite Mariah song is ‘Fantasy’ because my partner, Johnny, performed it at karaoke during the first week of us dating as a serenade to me and that was the moment that I thought, ‘I am obsessed with this man!’
Sasha Velour’s The Big Reveal Live Show tours the UK throughout March and then continues across Europe.
For all dates, tickets and more see www.sashavelour.com
Main image by Greg Endries.
