Sex positivity, Drag and the Inspiration for Sleaze Ball

AKA: What was the inspiration for Sleaze Ball?

FT: I saw a real lack of representation of bigger bodies, as well as cis women, non binary people and trans men in drag. I wanted to be a part of a show that wasn’t centered on mass appeal, that didn’t try to be more digestible for a vanilla audience. I take a lot of inspiration from Cabaret and the character of the Emcee, and I see the connection between the rise of fascism and the sanitization of sexual expression. It’s okay if people decide that Sleaze Ball is too extreme for them, but I want people to understand why it needs to exist.

AKA: Why is it important to see bigger bodies in drag?

FT: Growing up fat, I felt like my sexual expression was limited to what was palatable for others. Media would show fat women being aggressively sexual in a way that wasn’t desired by men. Being thin is has always been very trendy. Now you see celebrities taking Ozempic, people getting rid of their BBLs, you have to minimize or erase [your size.]

I think in a show about sex positivity, it’s important to recognize that fat people are also sexy and sexually involved, without being objectified.

I think in a show about sex positivity, it’s important to recognize that fat people are also sexy and sexually involved, without being objectified.

AKA: What is the origin of the name Sleaze Ball? How did you think of that?

FT: Ezra (Director of Programming at Splinter Collective) came up with the name. It described the energy we were trying to capture: unsanitized kink and sex positivity. It communicates that sex and kink, filth and grunge are a part of drag. It also references drag’s origins from Ballroom culture in Harlem and New York. In this political climate it is important to do the things that greater society might ask us to keep quiet in order to erase us. For a trans or queer person there is a push to desexualize ourselves in an effort to appear safer, to say “I am not a threat” as a survival technique. Sexuality is a core part of people’s humanity that I don’t think is good to sacrifice.

AKA: How did you get connected with Chava and Meggan?

FT: I met Meggan through School of Drag, and I met Chava through Splinter while bartending for a show her drag family, the Tarp Queens, were hosting. It was inspiring to see a trans man (Chava) doing drag for starters, it was great seeing other trans people doing drag in general. I really enjoyed her combination of masculinity and femininity with her hyper fem body. She is great really, so gorgeous. I think because she also has lime green as her signature color, she has really clear and iconic branding. Anytime I find anything green at Threads I send a pic to Chava. Meggan has an iconic mug, the way she does her makeup is flawless and beautiful.

I like Freddy to be gender fluid because if you think he’s cute, you’re gay!

AKA: How do you do your makeup?

FT: The style of makeup I do is different. I start with a white clown base which reduces the amount of highlighting and contouring. My makeup is more on the androgynous side, whereas Meggan is very high fem, I think that is part of how we are diverse as a group.

AKA: When I have seen drag it has mostly been drag queens performing, why is diversity important in your show?

FT: There can be shows where there are only drag queens, or only drag kings, and there’s nothing wrong with people creating spaces for their own gender performance, but there also needs to be room for both or neither. That is why I like to call myself a drag creature, drag artist, gender freak, drag king a lot of times, but there’s not a hard and fast rule with Freddie Twerkury. I like Freddy to be gender fluid because if you think he’s cute, you’re gay! I am also someone who has a larger chest, and I don’t like binding. It is my goal to one day get top surgery but I would maybe still wear a breastplate. In the last show I wore a binder and did a reveal, it was fun but complicated.

AKA: What has hosting been like for you?

FT: I love it. I love drag so much, genuinely. I’d do it every day if I could. A lot of my performance experience has been at all-ages shows, which are amazing, but it’s important for shows like Sleaze Ball to exist as well – there should be more of them. My daughter loves drag, she’s 5 and thinks drag performers are amazing. They are such a loving and kind group of people to have around her. She is a kid with two trans parents that are queer and disabled, she has autism. She loves the performance aspect in the same way kids enjoy superheroes, clowns and Disney princesses. She loves seeing me in makeup. Of course, Sleaze Ball is adult only and an explicit show and not the thing for my daughter, so I would love to create and host more shows.