An insult comedian par excellence — and one of many the brightest superstars to emerge from all 16 glittering seasons of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — Bianca Del Rio has one of many sharpest tongues in all of dragdom and an ever-growing legion of followers who snap up tickets to listen to her shish kebab her fellow queens, popular culture icons, politicians, and, in the event that they’re fortunate, they themselves.
The alter ego of Roy Haylock, a transplanted Louisianan who rapidly made a reputation for themselves in New York Metropolis within the late ’90s and now calls Palm Springs, California, residence, Del Rio has carried out to sold-out audiences across the globe.
Taking a second from their new “Lifeless Inside” comedy world tour, they provide skilled recommendation on authenticity, confidence, and managing life onstage and off.
“It is essential to remain in class and get an actual job,” they advise. “This isn’t what you wish to do.”
What a drag queen can train you about self-confidence
Discover your genuine voice
“Most individuals discover their genuine voice after they have been shot down a few instances. I have been doing drag for 28 or 29 years, and it is via the exhausting instances that you simply discover your voice. You begin to determine the issues that work finest for you.”
Observe your intestine
“My pure instincts made me completely different. Numerous my pals have been artistic and humorous and good, however they have been involved with becoming a mildew. I used to be undoubtedly not a kind of individuals. There was no mildew for me.”
Discover your inspiration
“Rising up, there have been just a few individuals I assumed, ‘Ooh, there’s one thing about them.’ Liberace was one in every of them. Madame, the puppet, was one other. The glitz, the glamour, the sarcasm, the showmanship—that is what I gravitated to.”
Observe. Repeat. Observe. Repeat.
“After I’m doing a solo tour, I am my very own author, director, producer, and star, so I do not get stage fright. However once I’m working with teams of individuals and we’re coping with a script, that is exhausting for me. I am all the time paranoid that I will overlook my traces. For me, repetition is actually the easiest way to recover from being nervous. As soon as it is ingrained in your physique, you should still suppose you do not know it backstage, however when you get on the market it clicks.
Don’t be concerned in regards to the hecklers
“In actual life, we do not have these conditions anymore. It is all on social media. I am going again to a time when if somebody hated you, they needed to inform you to your face. Now it is a phantom individual you’ve got by no means met placing out some horrible assertion. They’re going to by no means say it to your face. So until they’re your mom or your politician, you should not be involved.”
Encompass your self with individuals who know you and what it is all about—not yes-people
“My assistant has been my pal for over 25 years, and he nonetheless makes me carry my very own baggage. He does not inform me I am fairly; he does not suppose I am gifted; he does not suppose I am good. That is what retains you humble and grounded. After I’m doing a tour like I am doing proper now, I all the time say, ‘Nobody needs to be making more cash than me, however nobody needs to be working tougher than me.'”
It is by no means too late to …
“A few of the finest issues which have occurred in my life occurred a lot later. One thing that shifted my life was “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and I used to be 38 on the time. The issues that bought me via it have been the experiences that I had. All these years working in some shitty bar with no dressing room paid off in the long run.”
You must toot your individual horn
“You have to know your individual self-worth. It is essential to be sincere with your self. If there’s one thing about your self that you do not like, you have to work on it. Reaching self-love may be very, crucial. You recognize, there is a drag queen someplace who says, ‘If you cannot love your self, how are you going to like anyone else?’ I can not keep in mind her title. However typically we do want to use that.”
Have your individual maxim
“It doesn’t matter what anyone says or tries to do to you, by no means get indignant, by no means get upset. All the time keep in mind that sooner or later they’re gonna die. That all the time makes me really feel higher.”
This text was initially revealed by Stacker and was republished with permission.
