Original subtitles

Now sissy that walk.

[cheers and applause]

Trend alert.

I'm new to a lot of things.

I ain't new to stunning.

I always joked about running away and joining the circus,

and I basically have. [laughs]

Category is New Jersey/ Atlanta housewife.

♪ She's a super queen ♪

Naomi's such a whore. I love it.

I don't need a lot of communication.

I just need to, like, there to be a plan.

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.

Thank God.

Oh, send me home!

♪ And if I fly or if I fall ♪

[cheers and applause]

[cheers and applause]

How the fuck are you feeling tonight?

[cheers and applause]

You know, I grew up not only black,

but black and gay,

and black and gay and a drag queen.

So, like, that's already three strikes against you.

Well, we are here to entertain you guys, so have a good time.

Does that sound good?

In mainstream society, how dark your skin is matters.

I mean, it just kind of deciphers

what role people want to see you in.

I am the host of the show,

and so the host's job is vastly different every day, every city.

What's up, you guys?

Reality is a lot of people, you know,

that come to these shows are not really coming to see me.

Being black, you're gonna be fighting an uphill battle.

It is reality.

Like, I have to make sure that I'm prepared.

I have, you know, what I call 90 minutes

to make them fall in love with me.

Yeah!

[cheers and applause]

Ooh, I don't taste no date rape drugs in there.

If you guys are ready for a good show,

I need everybody in the building to say, "Shut up, bitch!"

-Shut up, bitch! -Shut up, bitch!

Ladies, tonight, say, "Shut up, bitch!"

-Shut up, bitch! -Shut up, bitch!

Now just my gentlemen. "Shut up, bitch!"

-Shut up, bitch! -Shut up, bitch!

[laughter]

[cheers and applause]

Oh, sorry. Where were we?

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Asia O'Hara.

Let's Werq the World!

[cheers and applause]

I love Asia O'Hara.

She is a drag legend.

She's been around for a long time.

I shouldn't stay in the opening number right?

Yeah or just--I mean, if you wanna take--

switch and put on, like, a dress.

-A little dress or something? -Yeah.

You know what I mean? So maybe I'll stay in that.

Yeah. No, whatever. Just have BJ just tell--

Have Simon give me the signal when you're ready.

-Okay, cool. -Okay.

[Detox groans]

Asia is, like, the hardest working,

most talented drag queen I've probably ever met.

I finish the meet-and-greet,

and then I lay on a sofa

until 10 seconds before I have to be onstage.

She was, like, the mother on season 10,

and she's, like, definitely, like, the big sister.

No. Oh.

There's not a dull moment when Asia's on the stage.

Her smile just, like, fully brightens up the room.

She loved the production.

Like, she loves to feel her bae-chella moment.

Asia definitely has a flare for the drama.

But I knew that since season 10, so I'm not surprised.

I mean, I don't know the specific fucking title,

but for me she's the bitch.

She's Michelle Obama.

She's a presidential pussy.

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, did you need something?

I just wanted to let y'all know,

so feel free to go ahead and send the hate...

[tongue pop] to Asia.

[fake laugh]

I'm kidding, y'all. We spread love...

and hate when the camera's not on.

You know what else we spread?

Peanut, peanut, peanut, peanut, peanut butter!

That's you.

We are in Dallas.

So excited to get here

just to get in my car and go get coffee

and, like, live my independent life.

What can we get for you?

Hi, can I have a venti quad soy skinny vanilla latte,

no foam, hot?

Did you say "soy?"

-Yes. -7.85. Thank you.

Thank you.

I know. Don't judge me.

I'm trying to think, y'all.

Should we go to the grocery store,

Should we go to the post office?

Should we go pick out a Christmas tree?

No, we gotta go get in fucking drag

and Werq the World.

I come from a very conservative family.

I had wonderful parents

that were very, very, very adamant

on me being the best version of myself possible.

And even if, you know,

they did not agree with something I was doing

or a way I was living my life,

as an adult, they respected me for who I was

and allowed me to make my own decisions.

I never actually told them, like, "Hey, I do drag."

My dad I'm pretty sure knew,

but my dad was very much the person

that was kind of out of sight, out of mind.

As long as you're not running around our house wearing a wig,

I don't care what you do.

We're back.

My parents passed away in 2009.

My mother passed on January 4,

and my father passed on March 18.

It definitely was by far the most difficult part of my life.

A lot of stuff in 2009 happened all at once,

and it was just, like, a whirlwind.

I was kind of numb to a lot of things.

It's something I don't wish on anyone.

Um...yeah, it's not easy.

Ah-choo!

Is it this way?

-Have you been to the stage? -No.

I'm assuming it's this way.

I'll ask someone.

Struggle number one, finding out how to get to the stage.

I think it is here. Yes.

Trip number one.

My father was a very, very, very hard worker,

and I get a lot of that from him.

Trip number two.

My dad was an architect, and then my dad was always--

my mom hated the fact

that he couldn't leave well enough alone.

And I definitely get that trait from him also,

because that's me with my drag.

Like, my number was fine the first time we did this tour.

I've added 40 seconds to my music,

and now I'm playing the drums,

and now I have LED POI for all of the dancers.

Yeah, queen--I mean, yeah, princess of extra.

My mom was probably the most compassionate person

I've ever met in my life,

and she definitely taught me to always do my best

to improve the quality of the lives of the people around me.

Every single thing that they, you know,

groomed and trained me to be in a human being

definitely resonates in my role here at Werq the World.

Asia, she's another, like, mama to us.

Oh, she's mom.

Obviously, she has that motherly figure

for the cast and for everyone.

Now I'm walking like Sharon.

Aquaria I think I'm the most maternal with.

Out of all the queens, she probably needs me the least,

but for some reason, she makes me feel the most needed.

Last night, I went to the after party with Aquaria,

which was the first after party she's done this entire tour.

Aquaria was a little nervous.

Let's figure out what the next outfit is.

Half my shit either needs to be steamed--

I think a lot of people here, the element that they miss

is, like, a maternal or parental figure.

So when I sense that somebody

is, like, lacking that or needing that,

I immediately kind of morph into that person for them.

And so people call me the mom. I guess I'm the mom.

[cheers and applause]

She's not only entertaining, she's intelligent,

and she's one of my favorite people that I have ever met.

So y'all give her a round of applause.

[cheers and applause]

You know, Asia,

I think not having her parents with her right now,

she definitely finds a lot of appreciation

in anyone else's family, especially my mom.

This lady, this real woman right here,

can give the best hugs!

Best hug. Oh, my God!

Stop trying to pick me up!

[laughs]

I do see Aquaria's relationship with her mother,

and I do wish I would have had that.

And I actually, like, gravitate towards their mothers.

I talk to Aquaria's mom more than I talk to Aquaria.

Right here we have the lovely mother and sister

and father of Aquaria.

Stand up.

[cheers and applause]

Glad to see y'all made the drive up from Pennsylvania.

They own a restaurant,

and they have yet to bring me a casserole. It's okay.

For a lot of us, your mother is the one person

that cares about you more than they care about themselves.

That's the part that I miss the most,

is knowing that there's somebody that, like,

will put everything that's going on in their life aside

to worry about me.

I do think my parents would have really tried to be involved,

because that's something they missed out on

during my childhood.

I would definitely wanna show them

that all of the qualities

that they tried to instill in me really stuck,

and that has really, you know, helped me in this career.

-Good morning. -Good morning.

Today we are in fabulous Sacramento,

which is where one of my favorite movies,

Lady Bird, was filmed.

So first thing, coffee and contemplation,

if you are a Stranger Things fan.

Coffee first, with silence.

As you notice, it's very quiet in here.

Geo's not even allowed to speak until noon.

And then every day,

I have to update my POI

with the sports team of that day.

So today it is the Sacramento Hornets,

which is from Sacramento State.

So what the hell?

Okay, so now I think I have to start all over from scratch

because I cannot find the file

that has every piece of anything light-up that I use,

is now either corrupt or gone.

Asia has a flair for the dramatics, okay?

With Asia, let the wind blow

two degrees more than it's supposed to,

Asia's upset about it.

Okay, the next time y'all tell me

I only have 15 minutes to get-- 45 minutes to get in drag,

I better not be the last one.

But, you know, she's the host, so I guess she has the right to.

Yeah.

This does not happen every day.

This is the first time this ever happened.

I can tell there's a lot going in her head for a creative.

Today was the worst show in history.

It was awful.

And I think she kind of thrives on, like, the chaos.

Girl, sometimes the cards are just not in your favor.

And we're in this tiny venue.

There was just no room onstage.

It was impossible for me to set myself up to do my number

because there was just no space.

But of course nobody thinks of these things

before the show starts.

And then the show gets going,

and everybody's walking around looking crazy.

No, I was not able to do my number.

I realized halfway through Kameron's number,

which that's probably, like, 10 minutes.

So not acceptable in the least.

It's nobody's fault that we don't have enough space,

but, like, when we don't have enough space

for certain things to happen when they need to happen,

then we could have, like, been more prepared for that.

The show as a whole is very important to me.

And in that moment, if I forced my number to happen,

the second half was gonna be a catastrophe.

You could ask me, too.

Like, if you're saying, "Hey, I need a space."

Oh, no, no, no, I shouldn't have to ask you,

because you know I need a space.

I do the same number with the same stuff every night.

I don't need a lot of communication.

I just need to, like, there to be a plan.

We shall see.

I mean, I've had it in my bag for--

-But you haven't worn it yet. -I haven't.

The black Mary Poppins.

This woman leaned over to me in the meet-and-greet

and said, "There are no black people here."

So I was, like, "Well, let me wear an afro."

I gotta represent for a whole continent.

And you know, last night,

someone thought I was Monet X Change the entire show.

How do you feel about that?

Racism in drag--

We always get tagged as different queens.

A lot of people say the fan base is racist.

I don't think that that's necessarily the case.

It's just the fan base is not made up

of a lot of people that are like me

or come from places like me

or have the same ethnic background as me.

And I think it's a natural, you know, human trait

to gravitate towards people you can relate to.

And, like, a 16-year-old blonde girl

is not going to look at me

the way that they look at Kameron Michaels.

Everyone knows the meet-and-greet

is my least favorite part of this process.

Hi. How are you?

Nice to meet you.

I battle something a handful of queens will understand.

A lot of times in a meet-and-greet,

people come in and they ask me to step out of the picture

so they can have just a picture with the other girls,

Kameron and Aquaria or whatnot.

And it is a trigger point for me.

It is undoubtedly harder for queens of color

to win over the fans than the white queens.

Some of my favorite queens are queens of color,

and I don't understand why and how it takes them so much

to be praised and acknowledged for what they do,

more so than some of the mediocre white girls

that are on the show.

You look out in the audience,

and you don't see anybody that looks like you.

You shouldn't be surprised when they come to the meet-and-greet

and don't wanna take a picture with you.

Instead of, you know, focusing on the five people

that ask me to step out of the picture,

focus on the one person that is, like,

"Oh, I loved you on your season.

Very happy to meet you. Let's take a picture."

It's definitely already an uphill battle,

like, to be not only a queen of color,

but to be a black drag queen.

There will always be harder work for certain people.

Like, there will always be harder work for people of color.

There will always be harder work for women.

That's just the way of the world,

and so you have a choice

to either sit at home with your arms crossed and sulk about it,

or you can do the extra work

and know that at one point that will pay off.

I don't understand how Kim's makeup stays put all night long.

Oh, it doesn't.

I mean, 30 seconds into the show,

and I look like I did my makeup with a pork chop.

She looks like a porcelain doll for a decade at a time.

We're just two busy queens

in a parking lot in Sacramento, California. Yeah.

Doing hooker stuff.

Just--she's the hooker, I'm the pimp.

She's good at the sexual things.

I'm very, you know, proficient with money management

and, you know--

I'm very selective about who I share my time with.

[laughs]

It is my extreme pleasure--

I've been a huge fan of hers for a long while.

In addition to being a national titleholder,

she is absolutely stunning.

Please give it up for the incomparable Asia O'Hara!

[cheering]

I did an after party with Kim,

and I don't think I've ever done, like, a club gig with her,

so it was interesting.

And Kim decided that we were doing a duet.

Nobody Wants to be Lonely,

by Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin.

And that I was gonna be Ricky Martin,

and that we were gonna make out in it.

This was all Kim's idea.

My wig came off,

Kim was having the time of her life.

And I'm, like, sure. You only live once.

Might as well.

Kim doesn't date around,

so I figured I'd be safe kissing her.

Because it wouldn't be like

I was kissing a bunch of random people.

The party loved it, so...

Give it up for Kim Chi and Asia O'Hara!

I'm not trying to go around the whole country

making out with Kim Chi at the after parties,

but it wasn't that bad.

And now, um...

I have made out with Kim Chi.

Yeah, there's that.

Thank you.

Asia. Asia's on my face.

Someone home in Dallas told me once,

"No one will care about your art as much as you do."

I am the only number in the show that requires--

that has a lot of moving parts that I have to do myself.

It's the life that I prefer.

I like to stay busy.

[cheers and applause]

So we've been dying to do this the whole tour,

and since it's, like, the last opportunity to do it,

when you guys bring the drums out,

we're all gonna come out with you on the drums,

and then play the drums with her.

On the drums? Are you gonna play the--

-Yeah. -Oh, my God.

Okay, this is either gonna go over really well,

or she's gonna be pissed off.

Fuck that, bitch. [laughs]

Loves it.

[cheers and applause]

They think they are so slick.

And, you know, I'm so, like, neurotic,

I saw something weird out of the corner of my eye,

and I was like-- and then I turned around,

and I was like, "Did I black out

and I'm in somebody else's number?"

I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it.

I have a feeling that was all Aquaria and Detox.

The best advice I could give someone

that has lost their parents is to know that,

like, really understand that they're not gone.

And I really feel like my parents live on in me,

and some of my happiest memories

are when I see qualities in myself

that I know, oh, my God, that's my dad,

or, oh, my God, that's my mom.

And I think the best service

after our parents have passed on

that we can do for them

is to be the best person that we can,

and really try and make them proud,

and just give them the peace of mind

that they did an excellent job with you.

So that's the driving force in my day-to-day life.

[cheers and applause]