Sherry Poppins, Qhrist Almighty, DJ Ten Yards, Heaven Ender and Lindsay Blowhan discuss the past, present and future of their beautifully bizarre drag revue “STR8 to DVD”, which turns 10 in September.
INTERVIEW >>>
Hello, everyone! Happy 10th anniversary of your party and show currently at Brooklyn’s C’mon Everybody, “STR8 to DVD”! Does it really feel like all that time has passed since you all came on board?
SP (Sherry Poppins – drag performer, co-host and co-creator): It really feels so weird to even say it out loud that we’ve been doing it for 10 years, because it doesn’t feel like it! But then, when I think about it, “DVD” has basically been with me nearly my entire drag career. We’ve gotten to see the Brooklyn nightlife scene change drastically–people coming and going, bars opening and closing…and all through the lens of having this monthly show endure it all. It’s pretty wild.
QA (Qhrist Almighty – drag performer, co-host and co-creator): It feels like a million years ago, but also yesterday–which I guess is the canned answer, lol. I definitely have lived a million lives since our first show. I moved to Brooklyn, my parents died, I met the love of my life, there was a global pandemic and two Trump presidencies…let alone how much nightlife and drag have changed. But as much as we mythologize, I don’t like to look back. I’ll always feel like the best is ahead of me still. We’ve also kind of gone from underdogs to the elder BK drag folks to sort of revered and prized by the newer generations. Someone told us recently that [Brooklyn open stage show] “Mad Mondays” had a whole group chat where they wondered who would be next to do “DVD”, and we were so touched by that.
TY (Sam Branman aka Ten Yards – DJ, co-host and co-creator): I think I should be most aware of how much time has passed, because I was 29 when we started and now I’m 39…but not really! I think we still feel like the show is a labor of love and we’re underdogs–and we still run and book the show that way.
HE (Heaven Ender – drag performer and co-producer): Time is an illusion for me. In some part of my brain, we’ve actually done “DVD” since the beginning of the universe, but in different forms. I think the only way I can really tell that the years have passed is how many emails, notes and flyers have accumulated in my various storage drives.
LB (Lindsay Blowhan – drag performer and co-producer): For me, yes and no! I performed at some of the very first “DVD”s (back when the show was under a slightly crazier name, “1-900-HOT-GLUE”)…all right around, essentially, the infancy of my drag (2016-2018ish). “STR8 to DVD” (neé “Hot Glue”) was one of, if not my first, bookings outside of the side stage at SUNY Purchase’s student center (where Qhrist, Sherry and I used to throw drag parties sometimes). So, a real booking at a bar. But then I moved back to my hometown of Richmond, Virginia for a bit after college was over and became a bedroom queen for most of covid. Then I moved back to NYC in 2021, had my first “DVD” booking in four+ years in February of 2021, and was asked to come aboard full time in December 2023. All the DVDivas were already my drag family, but to get to join the actual show as a producer year ‘round was life-changing and a dream come true!
How might you describe what “STR8 to DVD” is, exactly?
QA: “STR8 to DVD” is a drag show for drag performers who love to do drag and people that love to watch drag shows.
HE: I often describe “DVD” to people as a drag-focused, post-vaudeville experience. It’s a variety show exploring the diverse landscape of drag in NYC and beyond. It’s drag for drag’s sake!
TY: It’s a drag-themed drag show in a world of theme-themed drag shows (even if we also book burlesque and comedy and musicians and occasionally a troupe of eight clowns).
LB: We call it a drag-themed-drag show. But it’s also a drag variety show, and sometimes just a straight up variety show (where a majority of the performers are in drag). It’s also a place for performers to be themselves–or not themselves, to try something new, do something classic, hit them with a staple, experiment, remix, put the thing down, flip it and reverse it. A place to laugh, to cry, to make out, to fangirl, to see some shit you’ve never seen before and might never see again. We’re not the only ones, of course, but we’re keeping Brooklyn drag weird and we’re also honoring its legacy at every turn (and maybe we shit on it a little too sometimes, out of love). Oh, and every now and then, someone sings live.
SP: The running bit, of course, is that “STR8 to DVD” is Brooklyn’s premiere “drag-themed drag show”. While we’ve definitely grown in ways in line with and beyond that, I really do believe that the show has become so much more than that…but I’m not really sure what words to use to describe it. It’s always just a magical energy in the room that everyone gets to enjoy together.
Sherry, Qhrist and Ten Yards: As the founders of “STR8”, can you tell us how this came about, what inspired the show’s name and what you might be able to remember from the first show, which I’m guessing was at Gold Sounds?
SP: Qhrist and I, as well as Lindsay, had already been doing drag at SUNY Purchase. And the pattern I noticed was that if you do drag at Purchase and want to keep doing it afterwards, you go to Brooklyn.
QA: We were fresh out of college and neither of us lived here yet. I was very inspired by things like [Don Pedro’s alt-drag Brooklyn show] Bath Salts, and I had actually started going out on the Bartsch/Ladyfag club scene. We wanted to participate in the Brooklyn scene, but in a very backdoor guerilla DIY way.
SP: Qhrist and I were eager to create a show in Brooklyn, and another Purchase friend helped us get in touch with Gold Sounds. Our very first show (“1-900-HOT-GLUE”) was a chaotically large cast of roughly 17 drag performers–all Purchase alumni (and students). I don’t think any of us made any money, but it was a big drag celebration. And somehow, the bar kept us on!
QA: We didn’t want to beg and scrounge and plead to be booked, so we just booked ourselves. Sam was kind enough to help, and that was that!
TY: Qhrist and I were friends (I actually suggested they apply to Purchase where they met Sherry, Lindsay, Linda Felcher, Maxxx Pleasure, Miz Jade, etc.) and I had been DJing for a few years. They texted me and asked if I would DJ the drag show they were planning. I came up with “STR8 to DVD” when we decided to change it from “1-900-HOT GLUE” because of the existence of “Hot Fruit” at Metropolitan, which was also on Mondays. (I did not think about Rify Royalty’s “Straight Acting” because it was on a different night, and we have the “8”). I have basically no memory of the first show, because we’ve done this 99 times over the past decade.
Heaven and Lindsay, what made you two want to come on board when you did? What was “STR8” like when you both showed up and how might you describe your roles in the show today?
HE: I first encountered Qhrist and Ten Yards on Facebook via my high school friend Swan Flambé, who went to Purchase. I would see them posting hot takes, music videos and other things that I enjoyed too. After a while, I finally attended a “DVD” and we all got acquainted. After a few months of just hanging out at the show, they asked if I wanted to be the door goddess since I was showing up to each show anyway. It took a little longer for me to get the courage to ask to be a Mx. “STR8 to DVD” gave me my first shows on their stage. After that, it feels like my fate was sealed, I knew I had found a family of performers who understood my perspective on drag. As we transitioned to doing our park shows in 2020, I became the tip angel/stage kitten, which, when we moved to C’mon Everybody, I just kept doing.
LB: My beginnings at “STR8 TO DVD” really were just me being the kid sister of the greater “DVD” family and Sherry and Qhrist. And my drag family gave me my first booking! At the first ever “DVD”! And then, after that, a few more guest spots or tips spots here and there…until I came on full-time in late 2023. My DVDiva family likes to joke that the reason we call ourselves “Nightgowns, but worse” is because I’m always doing some crazy number with projections or a weird prop or small set piece.
HE: Around 2023 I needed to take a break and my niece Lindsay was doing pop up shows. I could tell she was hungry to do more with her drag, so I asked her to take over my duties while I was on hiatus. Now I consider myself Producer At Large. Sometimes I’m stage managing, sometimes I’m cleaning up strange fluids, sometimes I’m collecting tips. I enjoy being able to move around the space, taking care of whatever needs to be handled at that moment while everyone else is stuck at their respective places during the show.
LB: “STR8 to DVD” is my monthly place where I get to do pretty much anything I can imagine. So I always dream big and aim for a lil’ drag show magic! I’m also pretty much the unofficial official “STR8 to DVD” social media manager. I write all the captions, make the posts and reply to you if you DM us!
What have been some wonderful, terrible and/or straight up bizarre moments from STR8’s history?
HE: Every “DVD” is a bit bizarre. I love to tell the audience to try and explain what they experienced at our show when they are back in the office on Monday, without HR getting called.
SP: A wonderful memory coming to me right now is the first time Qhrist and I got tipped a 100 dollar bill. Some weird guy at Gold Sounds just put one flat on the stage (making a small spectacle of himself, of course), and she and I were so gagged. It’s crazy how much we’ve experienced since then.
TY: One of the most wonderful was our first show in the Vale of Cashmere [in Prospect Park], September 2020, our fourth anniversary. I said we should do the show, because why the fuck not!? We had a tiny JBL speaker on a folding table…and people came! The first time we ever made any actual money were the Prospect Park shows. I think that was where we really became what we are today.
LB: Favorites? Two Mx. Ologys; [The drag artist named] Sour Somethings stapling Squirmles to themself and the audience loudly gasping in fear/awe; Maxx Love inverting the space and putting the audience on stage for his number (which he did from the audience); our “STR8 to DVD” takeover of the iconic summer weekly Metropolitan BBQ (thanks, Charlene); our lip-sync competition spin-off show, “STR8 TO DVD: DEATHMATCH”; our yearly, all king show in May (where we ourselves also do our own king personas, along with the cast); Candace Nuts as our “token drag queen” at this year’s all king show; and of course DANI fucking DUVALL! Also, this past month, I wanted to do pool shows, so I brought my own pool for shows (and showed feet for free)!
QA: For good: Heaven doing “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish in a giant cut out of a taxi earlier this year. It really moved me to tears; it was unironically so beautiful.
HE: Wonderful: winning our first Glam Award together! I think we all were shocked to be nominated to begin with, and had no expectations to win, so when we heard our name called for Best Bar Party, we were truly gagged. It felt great to have something to show for many years of hard work.
TY: Terrible: Having to ban an audience member!
SP: While it’s funny to me now, a terrible night was when I was drinking heavily before the show even started because I was dealing with a fresh breakup. By intermission, I was so drunk that I ran out to the street, took my wig off and vomited violently into the sewer grate. And Chiquitita has it all on video! She likes to share it on socials once a year to commemorate. Needless to say, I couldn’t finish the show…and our friend Cyndee Cexx had to take over as co-host.
QA: [Terrible moments include] one time at C’mon, a new performer had a real kitchen knife and didn’t tell us. Little Piece got hosed down with sunscreen by several people, and when the number was over, no one could move because the stage had become a Slip ‘N Slide. Also our failed collaboration with the Cake Boys, because half of us got covid in April 2022.
HE: I can’t pinpoint one specific [terrible] moment, but it’s always tense for me when there are tech issues during the show. I know that people look forward to being a part of our show and I want their moment on our stage to be as perfect as possible!
Big date is coming up for”DVD” at C’mon! Your 10th anniversary show is September 12th with another iconic guest trio: Lollygag, Julie J and Angel Au. What can folks expect from these milestones?
TY: Drag!
QA: I think we’re gonna do drag. Not quite sure yet; we’ll circle back.
HE: Most likely there will be some drag and maybe a gag or two! Anything can happen at “DVD”…
SP: Sickening, unrehearsed duets and group numbers! Stoned ramblings! WIGS!
LB: Good drag, comedy drag, cunty stunty drag, projector drag, sad drag, clown drag, fashion drag, variety drag, makes-you-think drag, drag you can’t see anywhere else but “STR8 to DVD” every second Saturday at C’mon Everybody in Brooklyn, New York.
To close: What or who would you like to see be a part of “STR8 to DVD” over the next 10 years?
HE: I’d love to bring back our lip sync competition, “STR8 to DVD: DEATHMATCH”. And I’ve been trying to manifest “Str8 to DVD: Wet and Wild”, where we give pool shows. Contact me if you have a pool we can use!
SP: I would really love to be able to bring the show to more cities. I want to bring “DEATHMATCH” back. I want to meet more incredibly talented performers and make a bunch more memories.
QA: Cate Blanchett as Tar in Jim Carrey “Grinch” drag. But she’s also pulling from Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in “Monster”. And she’s had a couple of shots, so there’s a sprinkle of Isabella Adjani in “Possession”.
LB: I always love when we get to have people from out of state, so I want to keep fostering that! We’ve had performers from all over–but as a Virginia girl, it was super fun to have some DMV queens (Rigatoni and Hennessey, etc.) with us over the past few years! We can’t fly you out, but if you’re coming to NYC from another city, DM us! And vice versa…I’d love to take this on the road more. I also want to do more collabs with other shows (“Simple Life”, “Metrosexuals”, etc.) and casting of newer (than us) talent! I’m always coming back to our list with new names whenever I go to “BlowPop” at All Night Skate (shoutout to the “BlowPop” babes!!)
TY: Drag! We have a whole wish list, but that’s a secret!
Thanks all, and happy anniversary once again!