5 Questions with Thorgy Thor
On TV or off, Thorgy Thor is larger than life.
June 06, 2016
On TV or off, Thorgy Thor is larger than life.
After making a name for herself in the queer community of Brooklyn, she went onto make a name for herself on a well-known drag competition that happens to be on TV. Grateful for the exposure the show has rewarded her, she still continues to make sure her hometown community of Brooklyn is rewarded some of the benefits of this exposure.
We chatted with Thor quickly before the two-year-anniversary of her show at TNT. We dished about her fans in San Francisco, the evolving nightlife scene here in New York, and why she wouldn’t do anything differently.
How has life been since Drag Race ended?
I have been busy traveling to every city and getting to actually meet some of the other Drag Race girls who are super fantastic. I met Nina Flowers who is incredible in Denver. I just got to hang out with Heklina who use to host Tranny Shack but now that tranny is not a good word anymore they had to switch it. But she does all of these incredible parties in San Francisco. I couldn’t go a single block in San Francisco without someone saying hello to me because apparently there everyone loves Thorgy Thor.
I thought that was really fantastic. I want to go back to that city immediately. It’s just so nice to go to so many cities and be accepted and loved by people I have never met before. When you’re thrusted into the spotlight it’s a wonderful platform to do whatever the fuck you want to do and I try to spread positivity and artsiness and the craft of doing drag and feeling good about it.
Mondays on Monday is about to celebrate two years. Tell us more about that show.
We have been doing Mondays on Monday at TNT for two years now and Monday, June 6 will be our official two year anniversary show. It consists of three witches, me, Ragamuffin, and Ruby Roo. Those are the three performers. Me and Ruby Roo were really in charge of the show from the beginning but Raga showed up since day one and was a guest performer. Now, she is a permanent part of the show. It’s the three of us, and we just won the Brooklyn Nightlife Award for Best Drag Show of the Year and we also won a Glam Award for Best Group or Duo show of the year. It was an honor because there are a lot of great cast and group shows in New York and we won. With this rinky dink show at TNT with the lighting falling off the ceiling. And also, TNT won the Best Bar of the Year that night as well, so all of these great things collided at this one event so we were really freaking excited.
We always introduce it as, “The most terrible show you will ever see. The most awful performances and here we go.” And people love it that we do not take ourselves seriously. It’s very Brooklyn. It’s sloppy. It’s a little San Francisco if you will. It’s Lower East Side in the early 90s’. We get sloppy, we get dirty but then there is polish too. It’s a very odd show. It’s just wonderful.
Michael Musto wrote a piece about nightlife waning in the age of Grindr and Johnny Velour wrote a response piece for us about it. One of the quotes mentioned was, “every generation complains that New York is losing its ‘scene’…perhaps because they aren’t imaginative or brave enough to find out where it’s moved.” What do you think about that?
I think the people writing these articles are talking about big mega clubs because no one goes to big mega clubs anymore. No one is paying a $40 cover in New York City because why? No one can afford it. That’s why we do this Brooklyn show and we offer a PBR and a shot of whiskey for like $5. You have to be a little cheaper. You are going to get at a little divey bar. People have found within their neighborhoods in New York they like little loungey shows now. The smaller bars are more successful now. The big clubs are the ones that died. In my opinion. I haven’t been doing this for 40 years so my opinion is a little whatever you know? But big clubs don’t really survive anymore.
I talk to Lady Bunny about this all the time too. She agrees that no one coming out to these big clubs. It’s all about the small bars now. TNT just happens to be one in Brooklyn and we are doing well. I urge people in Manhattan who have some opinion about queer culture or that nightlife is dead to come out to Brooklyn and celebrate with us and become part of our culture because we are having a good time.
I really want to check out Alotta Stuff too. How is that show going?
Alotta Stuff is a monthly auction and we have been doing it for four years now. Which by the way, if you think about it, doing a show for four fucking years is a big deal, right? We had a whole spread in Next magazine which we were so lucky to have. Huffington Post wrote a whole thing about us. New York Magazine and Village Voice they all did a thing about us. It’s not just queer people come. 60-year old straight married couples that come. It’s really an auction and opportunity for a few sassy drag queens to make fun of clothing. We have naked male models. It’s very fun. It’s the Third Thursday of every month when I am here.
It seems like you are really trying to keep you hometown engagements going.
Yes. It is a big deal for me. I have heard a lot about other Drag Race girls who disappear and think they are too big to come back to their home and they never speak to anyone again. And when they are around they are kind of moody. I have heard from people, “Please, don’t become that.” That has stuck in my brain. I have made a big deal about when I am home, I wake up and do the gigs for the same amount of money than I did before. It brings more business in. People are like, “Oh! She was on Drag Race.”
And I am like, “Yeah, I am still doing the same shit I did before! You guys just pay attention because I was on a TV show.” I am really coming back and still being friends with the people who helped me look as cool as I do. It’s about the girls and the fans who were around supporting me before I was on some TV show. It’s important when you are in town to hold onto that because it humbles you.
If you were on All Stars or the show again, what would you do differently?
That’s an impossible question to answer. It’s just so fresh to me. I just finished, I am just now touring. If they asked me to do it again? I would do nothing differently. I had a freaking blast while I was there. Every day I was there was a new challenge for me. It’s not like I have been doing this for a couple months. I have been doing this for 12 years so who I am as a drag persona and artist is who I show every day. I was never uncomfortable. For instance when Derrick was learning how to glue down her eyebrows on national television, it was just silly me. You are just learning how to do this now? It made me feel like I really knew who I was. So when you ask me if I would do anything differently, absolutely no. I would do everything the same and have a blast as usual.
With Season 8, I don’t think it’s about winning. I think it’s about how do you handle it afterwards. And that is what I am doing now.
