One of the segments on Viceland’s new Trixie & Katya Show (PREMIERING TOMORROW NIGHT! ) features the two titular nutballs out on Hollywood Boulevard doing man-on-the-street style interviews.
From MIC:
In one episode, for example, they ask strangers to hypothesize the mechanics of strangely titled sex acts — like the “Kentucky tractor pull” or “supermanning.” In another, they ask people whether a medical condition — like “werewolf syndrome” or “sudoku seizure” — is real or something they made up. (For the record, they’re both real.)
Strangely enough, this whole interview bit is done OUT OF DRAG. I know. Insane!
“It’s kind of nice because the person we’re interviewing is uncomfortable, and we’re never out of drag, so we’re actually super-uncomfortable [too],” Trixie said at Mic’s offices in New York City. “I’m holding a microphone, looking at the person, and I’m telling them with my eyes that, ‘This can be over as fast as you can get it over.’”
“And I also look like I’m dying of cancer, so it’s fun,” Katya added.
But while the two have sizzling comedic chemistry together, they quickly found out that making funnies with total strangers is no easy feat.
Getting people to even talk to them is a challenge.
“Let’s be honest,” Trixie added. “If you were walking down Hollywood Boulevard, and you saw a gay Forrest Gump and Mr. Bird, would you stop for us?”
Drag, Trixie says, is a wat to communicate her dedication to her audience,
“Something I’ve never related to in, like, contemporary comedy is that everybody now just wears, like, T-shirts and jeans,” Trixie said. “I think in comedy of 50 years ago [there] was more showmanship, and was like gowns and suits and like —”
“Rita Rudner wore those vests,” Katya interjected.
“Yeah,” Trixie continued. “John Mulaney, for example, is a younger comic and he always wears a suit. I always thought that was, like, respect [for] your audience. When we come on your thumbnail on YouTube or on Viceland, aren’t you like, ‘Those bitches put on wigs for me. Yes, I do have a minute for you.’”
Katya joked that their drag also offers a kind of armor, a hand-waving distraction from the moments when they’re not at the top of their game.
“There is a scientific measurable thing where the retina kind of attaches itself to the nasty,” Katya said, gesturing to Trixie and herself. “And we bank on that, because we’re only about 60% talented depending on how much food we’ve had.”
“If we’re gonna make you laugh,” Trixie said, “isn’t it more fun to laugh at us when we look great?”
The Trixie and Katya show premieres on Viceland TOMORROW NIGHT. (The first episode is currently available for free!)
