Bianca Del Rio Floats Too, B*tches By Chris Azzopardi Photo: Rene Koala
Bianca Del Rio is in Stockholm on her It’s Jester Joke comedy tour, still subject to the fraught human realities of traveling despite her top-tier queen status. And packing – don’t remind her. “As a drag queen, you travel with so much shit,” says Del Rio (aka Roy Haylock). Famous for her tart candor, the Louisianaborn stand-up comedian’s success is a result of saying what she thinks and not caring what you think. And you, of course, already know this if you witnessed the selfproclaimed “Clown in a Gown” reign over the other crown-pining contestants during season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2014. Five years later, Del Rio, who has written a book, Blame It on Bianca Del Rio, and starred in her own film, Hurricane Bianca, is still coming out on top. In June, New York magazine named Del Rio one of the top 100 “Most Powerful Drag Queens in America.” Just before bringing her worldwide comedy tour stateside, Del Rio called to defend bachelorettes who celebrate at gay clubs, predict an inevitable 22 | 10.02.19
Lizzo backlash and roast Drag Race queens who use emotional manipulation to get ahead in the competition. What is the one thing you absolutely cannot leave home without? I’m a drag queen – there are so many elements. I definitely need makeup. But a razor, I would assume. The problem is, with drag you have to travel with so much stuff. You have to bring size 12 shoes, extra eyelashes; you can’t really find that stuff just anywhere. Definitely not in Stockholm. So I have to pack a lot of stuff. A lot more than I usually would like to admit. How many suitcases do you travel with? Four suitcases. Three of those are drag, one of them is what I call my “boy bag.” It’s just to have options. The airport struggle – the security, the baggage, all that shit – really does start to wear on you. And imagine if you went through airport security as – well, maybe you do go through as Bianca. I’ve never had to fly in drag – thankfully!
