JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Each week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Trixie Mattel is a musician, podcast host and one of America's most beloved drag queens. Her latest EP, "'Till Death Do Us Part," is out tomorrow, and she tells Wild Card host Rachel Martin that it's a holiday album. But think Halloween, not Christmas.
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TRIXIE MATTEL: You'll hear what child is this from me. If I'm at a drag show and there's a kid, I'm like, what child is this? Get him out of here. I'm not a drag queen who reads to kids at the library. I'm a drag queen, if I'm at the library, I get eye level with the kid, and I go, you get the f*** out of here.
RACHEL MARTIN: (Laughter).
MATTEL: You get the f*** out of here. Although I've seen on TikTok, the teachers say the kids can't read now. It's very sad.
MARTIN: Well, it's not helping that you're not reading to them. So you may be contributing to the literacy crisis (laughter).
MATTEL: I'm the reason high schoolers can't read. Great.
SUMMERS: Rachel talked to Trixie about her experience competing on "RuPaul's Drag Race."
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MARTIN: Has competition done more to help you or hurt you?
MATTEL: Oh, my God. So I'm not quite competitive with others.
MARTIN: Come on. Really?
MATTEL: But I am - I wouldn't say I'm competitive. I used to be very jealous.
MARTIN: Ah.
MATTEL: Very jealous.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: If I would turn - if I turned on a TV and I saw another drag queen in a gum commercial, it would ruin my day. Like, that was supposed to be me.
MARTIN: Like, the "RuPaul" show. I mean...
MATTEL: Oh, yeah, the "Drag Race."
MARTIN: ...The drag - like, you - it's an actual competition. It's an actual competition with real stakes where you're just constantly comparing yourself, every little thing.
MATTEL: Yeah.
MARTIN: I mean...
MATTEL: It's awful. I mean, can I say I don't want the takeaway to be that doing "Drag Race" is awful.
MARTIN: No. No.
MATTEL: It's of course...
MARTIN: It's a wonderful show.
MATTEL: It's amazing.
MARTIN: It's a wonderful show.
MATTEL: It's amazing. When you watch me on "Drag Race," you - I think you could tell that competition does not bring out the best in me. It activates every part...
MARTIN: Yup.
MATTEL: ...Of me that is, like, nervous. I had my first panic attack on "Drag Race." I mean, I didn't even understand at the time what it was, when it's, like, your chest is tight, my hands are going numb. I feel like, lightheaded. It's like, now I know what that is. But before I was like, oh, I'm having a heart attack.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: It is crazy, 'cause I feel like half of drag is, at the time, that time of my life was you're not good enough. You're not very good. Everyone - like, whatever. And the other half of me was like, you are the best thing that ever happened to drag. So there is this, like...
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: ...Crazy two thing where even being a - critiqued on "Drag Race," standing in front of RuPaul, and I'd be like, I look great.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
MATTEL: I didn't look great, by the way. But it's about delusion. And drag is about delusion. I mean...
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: ...Do you want to go see a drag queen who's like, I guess I'm OK.
MARTIN: No.
MATTEL: No, you want to see drag queens who are like, I'm - you're all so lucky I walked in here today.
MARTIN: That's right.
MATTEL: That's what we want.
MARTIN: That's right. 'Cause it's a projection.
MATTEL: And that's the kicker, too. I think part of what people like about drag is - of course there's beads and, like, stones and sequins and tricks and splits, but also, I think people like to watch someone suspend, like, their own disbelief and, like, really believe it and sell it.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: And I think there's part of drag that's inspiring in that way.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: I mean, I got into it for the drink tickets when I started doing drag. But now, at this point in my life, it's funny that drag over the years helped me convince myself that, like, you really can do anything.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: Like, 'cause if you could do it in drag, guess what? It is you. You did it. It wasn't somebody else. It was just you in a different outfit. Like, that's pretty crazy.
MARTIN: Yeah.
MATTEL: And that's how I invented drag.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
SUMMERS: You can watch Rachel Martin's full conversation with Trixie Mattel on YouTube by searching for NPR Wild Card. Her latest EP, "'Till Death Do Us Part," is out tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
